Eschew Obfuscation
by buddyblack
Summary: Harry dies during his battle with Voldemort in the Triwizard Tournament and wakes up as...a four-year-old! Harry reincarnated...kind of... Read inside for better summary...
1. Chapter 1

**_Summary: Yep, it's another 'Harry gets reincarnated' fic...Basically, Harry dies during his battle with Voldemort in the Triwizard Tournament and wakes up as...a four-year-old! (oh, the horror of it all!) So, after a little timeskip, Harry ends up at Hogwarts and...well...hillarity ensues... (not the best summary in the world, but...well...just read it!)_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: Alrighty, I'll admit it, this first chapter isn't the most...entertaining...but it gets better, I swear!_**

Eschew Obfuscation

Chapter 1: Okay, I'm four...now what?

_Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated._  
- Mark Twain

_Ow. Why does my head hurt? Merlin, did someone hit me in the head with a hammer? Boulder? Er...something large and heavy? Well, whatever it was, it hurt. Wait, where am I? What was I doing just now? _

I realized after a moment or two that, wherever I was, I was lying down and my head was throbbing. I opened my eyes slightly, but closed them immediately as light poured in through the slits. I let out a groan as I felt my head pang again. Apparently, that roused some attention as a moment later someone bustled over to my side.

"Are you alright, dear? You gave us quite a fright," said a voice I had no recollection of. My first thought was that I was in the Infirmary and that I was, once again, in a bed with Madam Pomfrey fixing me up. However, that didn't sound like Poppy. No, it sounded a bit younger and not nearly as...nagging? Exasperated? At any rate, it just didn't sound like her.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered as I sat up and forced my eyes to open slowly. I squinted around the room I was in until someone next to me handed me what I assumed to be my glasses. "Thanks," I muttered as I slid the black frames onto my face.

_Okay, this is weird. I have no idea where I am. Definitely not the Infirmary, that's for sure. Is this even Hogwarts? I have a feeling it isn't. Hm, wonder why that is? The lack of magic in the air, probably. I always noticed how different the feel is at the Dursley's than at Hogwarts. Always added more to the depressing fact that I was back with my family, though I use that term lightly. But that's not the point at the moment. So, I'm not at Hogwarts, I'm certainly not at the Dursley's, so...where am I? Hey, maybe this is St. Mungos! That could be it. Oh, wait, if I'm there then that means something seriously bad must have happened. And wouldn't I feel magic there too? Hm... Wait, what was I doing before....oh Merlin, how could I forget? The Triwizard Tournament! Cedric and I grabbed the cup and were portkeyed to some graveyard and then...oh no, that ritual. Voldemort's back! But, wait, no, there was an explosion...Yes, that's it! He shot a spell at me and then my wand...what did my wand do? Wow, I can't really remember. There was a bright light and then...I was here._

_And I have yet to discover where here is._

"Dear?" The voice brought me out of my thoughts. I turned my head to the left where, standing over me, was a woman dressed in white with short blonde curly hair that just barely curled over her shoulders. She was slightly pudgy and a bit on the short side, but had a warm smile pressed on her face. "Honey, are you feeling dizzy? You look a little too pale."

_Oh, no, I'm just peachy. Definitely after almost being killed by some insane homicidal freak._ "No, I'm fine." _Woah, just noticed something. Is that my voice? Merlin, it sounded too high pitched, if you ask me. Oh well, I have different things to worry about, right? _

"Well, okay," she said uncertainly. "Now, tell me your name."

"Huh?"

"Well, you fell pretty hard and might have had a concussion. I just wanted to make sure you don't have any memory loss, that's all," the woman said as she began to go through some medicines in the cabinet next to my bed.

"Oh. Well, I know I'm Harry, so it's okay." _Again, creepy voice. Ugh. _

At that, she stopped and turned to look at me. "What?"

"Harry." _Wasn't it obvious? I mean, I'm not one to play the 'hello, I'm the famous Boy-Who-Lived' card, but still...who on earth wouldn't know here? Definitely if they were treating me?_

"Um....sweetie, your name's Charles, not...Harry."

_Okay, didn't expect that._ "Excuse me?"

She gave me a rather worried looked before sitting down next to me. "Dear, your name's Charles. You were outside and a kickball hit you and you banged your head on the concrete. That was about an hour ago."

_Kickball? What kickball? And who does she think she's calling Charles? Oh well, let's just play along._ "Um...what about Voldemort?"

Her eyebrows furrowed together, "Who?"

_Okay, this is not good. Anyone who knew that name would cringe at the sound of it. And I'm also pretty sure the wizarding world doesn't have kickballs...oh no, this means I'm stuck somewhere in the muggle world! What happened? Did they find me unconscious and just assume...no, wait, they saw what happened, or what they think happened...oh Merlin, what's going on?_

"Dear, it's okay, it'll come back to you, just give it some time. Now," she moved over to the table next to my bed and grabbed a tray with what appeared to be some kind of soup, bread, and water. Next to the water was a little white pill. "Swallow that with the water, and then eat something. I'm sure everything will come back to you soon. This isn't the first time this has happened to a kid here and I'm sure it won't be the last," she sighed with exasperation. "I swear, the trouble kids get into these days," she mumbled as she walked out of the room.

I couldn't help but chuckle. She may not look like Madam Pomfrey, but she sure acted like her. I looked down at the tray she had rested on the side table and grabbed for the water. Only, I stopped first to stare at my hand.

_My hand is...small...too small....kid small...and so is my arm..._

Then, with a sudden panic, I look down at myself and I just about fainted.

_I'm a kid. Oh Merlin, I'm a kid! I can't be more than, what three? Four? Ugh! What's going on? First, Voldemort's back, then I wake up here only to discover I'm being taken care of by a muggle who thinks my name is Charles, and now I discover that I'm a bloody kid! Oh no no no no...this is bad! What am I going to do? Voldemort's out to get me and I'm a kid! I'm as good as dead! No, wait, calm down Harry, you don't know that. You don't know where Voldemort is or if he's even still alive. For all you know, that flash could have killed him or...maybe he's a kid too! Ha! That's rich! A little kid running around and trying to kill muggles with a little toy wand! Ha! Well, that's lightened my mood a little. Now then, what should I do? I should probably find some way to contact Dumbledore or Sirius and tell them what's up. Or maybe ask them if they know what's going on considering I don't know much on that subject at the moment. Hm, yeah, I should probably do that._

I jumped out of the bed and began to walk towards the door. However, before I could reach it, the lady from before came in and saw me. With her hands on her hips and a quirky smile planted on her lips, she asked, "Now where do you think you're going?"

"Um..." _Actually, that IS something to think about. I wonder if there's an Owlery near here. Doubt it._

"Oh no you don't, back to bed!" She pushed me back over to where I had awoken and picked me up. Once I was settled in again, she began to walk to the other side of the room and said, "Take that medicine or I'll be forced to make you take it."

I gulped and hurriedly grabbed the glass of water and the little pill next to it. After popping it into my mouth and gulping it down with the water, I saw that she was coming back over with a clipboard in her hand.

"Okay, sweetie, can you remember anything?"

_Uh, yeah, my whole life, but something tells me that's not what you want to know about._ "No, not really," I said in, what I now realize as my rather childish voice.

She sighed. "I see," she said and began writing stuff on her clipboard.

"Um...ma'am?"

She looked up and smiled. "Call me Betsy, honey."

"Okay," I said shyly before asking my question. "Um...could you tell me where I am? And...um...who I am?"

She looked at me wide-eyed and then proceeded to sit down next to me and pull me into a rather unexpected hug. "Oh, of course sweetie, I'm sorry." She released me, but continued to sit there as she explained. "Now, this place," she gestured around the room, "is the infirmary of St. George's House for Orphans. You've been living here ever since...well, ever since your mother begged us to."

"What?" _I have a mother, or rather, had?_

The lady, no, Betsy looked down at me sadly. "Your mother, I barely remember her, but I do remember she was such a pretty girl. Yes, she was on our door step, begging us to take you. I don't know why on earth she was so urgent, but she begged and pleaded for us to keep you safe. I'm guessing she was rather poor and knew that she just couldn't take care of you and that you'd be better off with someone else. So, we gladly took you in."

"What was her name?" I asked curiously.

Betsy sighed. "I don't know, dear, she never told us. All she said to us was that your name was Charles. Not her name nor your last name. And then, we turned around and she was gone. Vanished. We've...never seen her since." She looked down at me again as if trying to make sure I could take this all in. Apparently, my expression was fair enough for her to continue. "So, we've been raising you here for about three years now. You're four years old, like chocolate, and...." she sort of stopped after that. She glanced at me and said with a smile, "Oh dear, I doubt you're following this at all, are you? Look at me rambling on to just a mere child."

"What? No! I understand perfectly well, ma'am!" I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "Though, I'll admit, it's a lot to take in, I assure you that I'm more than capable of understanding the situation at hand."

At first, I thought I'd have to slap her after a minute of her just staring at me, clearly flabbergasted. Then, she shook her head slightly and said, "Dear Lord, I've never...only four and...such vocabulary..."

_Oh. Right, I'm four. A four-year-old, that should be easily distracted by shiny objects and have the thought capability of a monkey, that just spoke as if they were...well, much older than four. No wonder the woman's stunned._

"I mean," she continued, "now that I think about it, ever since you woke up, I had been talking to you as if you would understand, I wasn't even thinking, but..."

"Um...ma'am?" She continued rambling. "Ms. Betsy?" She looked up and over at me. "You know, kids understand more than grown-ups think they do. Though, I suppose I'm a bit more knowledgeable than others, but...well, that's understandable."

As Betsy continued to stare, her eyes suddenly lit up as if something had just occurred to her. "Before, you called yourself Harry...Why was that?"

I smiled. _Maybe I should tell her. She could help me. She seems to be much more understanding than most would and also seems to already be coming around to the idea that there's something changed within 'Charles' that no longer makes me him. _

"Because," I began, "I am Harry. Or, I was. I'm honestly not sure which it is. You see...all I can remember from my past is that I'm....well..." _Geez, this was harder than I thought. What if she doesn't understand? Not that I do, but...what if she sends me off to an asylum or something? Oh well, worth a shot anyways._ So, I continued. "Before waking up now, I was actually a lot older."

I looked up to see how she was taking it so far. Rather than confused, she actually looked kind of...thoughtful. This encouraged me.

"You see, I was actually fourteen when...well, I'm not really sure what happened. There was a big flash and then...I woke up here." _Not the best explanation in the world, but I can't explain more than that without going on about the wizarding world. Now that would get me sent to an asylum. Actually, I'm only four, right? So she'd probably just blame it on an overactive imagination or something like that. Honestly, not all kids have an..._

"Oh!" I turned to Betsy. It looked as if she'd just had an epiphany. "I know! Reincarnation!"

I blinked. "What?"

She turned to me, bulbing with excitement, "Reincarnation! You see, you must have died and then your soul was reborn into another body! Oh, and then when you received the concussion, somehow it jogged your memories of your past life! Oh, but somehow it erased the memories of your current life..." Apparently, realization kicked in as she hugged me once again. "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that. Oh, how insensitive can I be? You must think I'm a crazy old thing..."

I chuckled softly and pat her on the back. "Actually, I would have thought I'd be the crazy one here. But, actually, I hadn't thought of reincarnation..."

She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. "Well, what else could it be? Wait, when did you...um..."

"Die? Um...1994?"

"Ah, well, that answers it!"

"Huh? How?"

"Dear, it's 1997."

"What?" I squawked. _Wow. I've managed to miss three years. How could three years have gone by? And what about Voldemort?_ "Um...Ms. Betsy, can you tell me if....deathrates have risen? Or if anything... weird has occurred?"

"...No, why?"

_Odd. _"Just wondering."

"Now Charles," she began sternly, but stopped. "Oh, wait, Harry? Oh, whatever! Anyways, don't you keep things from me. Out with it! If this concerns whoever killed you, as I assume no one just falls dead at the age of fourteen, then you tell me at once!"

I looked down at the hands in my lap. _Well, what if I did tell her? Maybe she'd understand? Hm, I wonder if I could do some magic to prove things to her. No, wait, that might scare her. She could turn out like the Dursleys...or she just won't believe me at all. Probably the latter. _

"Now...Harry, please, I'll understand, I promise."

"No, it...it's not that easy. Its like...an entirely different world I'd have to describe to you...and I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can do about Voldemort."

"Wait, you mentioned them before, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, Voldemort. Or also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who..." She gasped. I turned to her. Her eyes were staring at me, so wide I thought they'd fall out. "W-what?"

"You mean...how do you know of You-Know-Who?"

"Well...wait, how do you? Aren't you a muggle?"

She chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm a muggle all right, but don't take me lightly. And yes, I do know a thing or two about the wizarding world, if that's what you're wondering. But how do you know about it? You weren't a wizard, were you?"

"Um...yeah, I was," I admitted, "but how do you know about it?"

She chuckled. "Oh, my little sister married a wizard and they decided to tell the family about him around...four years ago, I guess? Anyways, real cute couple. Married fresh out of school, those two. We thought they were too young, but no, they went along with it anyways." She chuckled a bit more. "Well, now they're both twenty-two and are happy and rich. Apparently he plays on some sports team. You probably know it. Involves brooms and flying, bunch of balls flying around too, hoops.."

"Quidditch?"

She clapped her hands together. "Yes! That's it! Anyways, I went to a game a year ago and, I swear, I don't see how anyone can follow one of those games. It's all going too fast! And then someone caught...well...something, and everyone started cheering and then, boom, it was over! I swear, it was one of the most confusing days of my life."

At hearing this, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I don't think I had ever heard someone describe Quidditch with such exasperation before!

"Oh, you think that's funny, do you Mr. Harry?" she said with slight annoyance, but mostly amusement. She reached over and began tickling me ruthlessly which, of course, made me laugh even harder.

After a few moments, we were silenced when a woman came storming into the room. "What on earth is going on in here?" she demanded. The woman was tall, skinny, and old. Her clothes covered every inch of her, her hair was in a tight bun on her head, and her rectangular glasses were stooped at the tip of her nose.

"Oh, Ms. Truax," Betsy said, standing up abruptly, "we were just, I was just making sure he.."

"Silence. Now, he seems to be perfectly fine, so please excuse Mr. Charles from your care and go back to work," and with that, she turned sharply and left, slamming the door as she went.

"...Okay, what's her problem?"

Betsy laughed softly, "That was Ms. Truax. She runs the place with an iron fist, so do not get in her way," she said, wagging a finger in my face. "Now, let's get you back to your room before we anger her any further."

"But.."

"Don't worry, we'll continue our conversation later." She ushered me up and urged me toward the door. "Let's see, it's around noon right now, so...how about I come and get you at 3:30? We could have some afternoon tea and...discuss some more."

"Okay." I grinned up at her and she grinned back. _You know, I can't believe how well this is all going. I mean, okay, I've just found out that I'm currently a four-year-old in a muggle orphanage, but...well, at least someone here understands. And she knows about the wizarding world! Man, am I lucky or what? Actually, that's kind of what has me a little concerned. I'm hardly ever this lucky. I'm starting to wonder if this is just a dream or something. No, it seems a bit too real for a dream, but still..._

"Alright, here we are."

_Wow, this place is a...mess._ In the room were five beds, two on either side and one in the back, and there were toys, clothes, and only Merlin knows what else lying around. I tried to step into the room, maneuvering through the random objects scattering the wood floor until I stood in the middle. I looked up at Betsy with a disgruntled expression. She chuckled.

"I'm not sure if you're used to sharing, but you'll have to start. I believe you've got the bed at the end of the room and as for what's yours and what's theirs...well, you'll have to ask them."

"And 'them' would be?"

"Ah. Well, there's Alec, he's got bright red hair; Calvin, kind of tall and lanky with blonde hair; Ethan, who's just a bit taller than you with black hair; and then there's Glen with sandy colored hair, kind of curly. Don't worry about keeping up with those four, though. They..." She didn't seem to want to continue. Great, more problems.

"What's wrong?"

"Well...you all aren't really the...best of friends...actually, for the most part, they don't even...well...notice you that much. You usually keep to yourself, you see, and never really made any close friends. Most of the time, you'd help out the grown-ups. Oh, you really were such a sweetie."

"Oh, well, that's not all that surprising, I guess." Thinking back to my own childhood, filled with chores and certainly no friends (Dudley made sure of that), it wasn't surprising in the least.

"...really? Well, you'll have to explain that to me later. As for now...well, is this okay?"

I looked around the room and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I mean, I lived in a cupboard for two thirds of my life before, so this is hardly going to bother me," I said with a rather grim laugh.

"That's terrible!" she just about shouted. She looked like she wanted to hug me again, but composed herself and said, "Well, we'll be discussing that as well, now won't we? Now, go to sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours, okay?"

I nodded and she left, mumbling under her breath about child neglect and such. I chuckled again and went to what I suppose must have been my bed.

_I'll admit, it was a lot more tidy than the others._

As I moved towards it, I had to watch my feet to make sure I didn't give myself another concussion and risk forgetting anything about my past life.

_Wait, I wonder if I'd actually remember my life as Charles? Hm. That would be interesting. Oh well, let's not think about that now. Let's think of sleep...wow, this bed is actually rather comfy. Mmm....soft fluffy pillows...you know, I think I'm sleepier than I thought...hmm...._

_---_

**_Wow...that's an amazing ending to a first chapter, no? -laughs- So, yeah, like I said, not the best chapter, but it gets better! And funnier...just wait 'till the kid gets to Hogwarts...oh, the irony of it all..._**

**_Review please!_**

_**+++Bubbyblack+++**  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: Okay, this chapter's a bit better (in my opinion), but a tad...corny, perhaps (especially the title...ugh)...sorry 'bout that...Anywho, after this chapter, things start to pick up, I promise! Enjoy!_**

_**mumimeanjudy: Yes, indeed, you are correct! When I was first typing this, he was only three, but after a while I decided to make him four...apparently, I completly forgot to change the date..._...Thank you for correcting me there and thank you for the review! ^_^**_

_**Also, thanks to my other reviewers! Your comments are much appreciated!**_

Eschew Obfuscation

Chapter 2: Hi, I'm Back From the Dead!

_"Did I kill that guy that killed me?"_

- Samuel Fuller

Before I knew it, I was being shaken awake by Betsy and taken down the hall to a room near the infirmary. I hadn't really noticed the first time walking through, but the place was actually rather big. I saw glimpses of children running around happily. A glance out the window revealed that it was probably around springtime and that we lived somewhere in the countryside. The building itself had an old, decrepit look that had an odd charm to it that I couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was kind of like Hogwarts.

We sat down at a table in what I assumed to be her office. Betsy placed down two cups of tea and a plate of cookies in the middle of the table, then settled in herself. We sipped quietly for a moment or two until I finally decided to start up a conversation.

"So, who's this guy you sister's married to?"

Betsy sat her cup down and smiled wryly. "Oh, he's such a charmer. The boy really is sweet and rather humble admittedly, though a tad...forceful and ambitious when it comes to his Quidditch." She giggled. "I remember my sister complaining a few months ago about Oliver running around and worrying about…"

I stopped her, "Wait, did you say Oliver?"

She blinked. "Oh, yes, Oliver Wood. Do you know him?"

_Oh Merlin. How the...Oliver? Her sister's married to Oliver! That's so coincidental that I have to wonder just how much of a coincidence it is! Wow...Oliver married...that's kind of...weird...I wonder what Betsy's sister's like..._

"Um...Harry? Are you okay?"

_Whoops, mind ramble._ "Yeah, sorry. And yes, I do know Oliver and he does get rather anxious when it comes to Quidditch. Actually, I remember in my third year at Hogwarts how he was determined and almost desperate to win the Quidditch Cup at all cost! Wow, it feels like just a year ago, but I guess that was four or five years ago wasn't it?"

"So..." Betsy began, calculating, "you knew Oliver from school? What's the 'Quidditch Cup'?"

"It's what you get when your team...basically wins over all the others. And, we did." I grinned cheekily up at her.

"Why are you grinning so much, hm?" she said, but not before returning the smile.

"What? I was quite proud of our team. Hm, I wonder if I'll ever get to play again..."

"Wait, you were actually on the team?" she asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I was. I played as Seeker." She gave me a 'huh?' look and I explained further. "Remember when the game suddenly ended when it seemed one of the players caught something?" She nodded. "Well, that would be my position. The Seeker's job is to look after the snitch, a little golden ball with wings, and catch it. When it's caught, the game ends and whichever team caught it gets one hundred fifty points." I continued to explain the complications of the game and such as she asked questions. Then, something seemed to dawn on her.

"Wait...no, no, you can't be that kid, can you?" I shrugged. "Well," she began, "he's talked about a kid, some prodigy of sorts, that came on the team. Youngest of the century I think. Anyways, whenever he starts to bring the kid up, he kind of gets quiet and never actually furthers the story. But he mentioned once that the kid had actually saved the wizarding world and was one of the best people he'd ever known...but you couldn't possibly be..."

Apparently, the look on my face said everything.

"Oh, sweetie, you can't mean...you're the one who saved us?"

_I'm just going to assume she means 'us' as both wizards/witches and muggles. And I'm also going to have to assume that, since she's saying 'saved' means that Voldemort was killed..._

"He's dead?" I asked uncertainly.

She sighed and got up. She walked to the other side of the table where I sat and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Yes, dear, yes, he's gone. From what I heard, they found both your....bodies in the midst of a tournament of sorts. Some were happy, others sad, and some just kind of lost. Oliver had informed our family of his world a year before this occurred when apparently there had been an attack during some Quidditch match and he felt that it might not be safe for us not to know. So, naturally, when we found out what happened...well, we were happy, but Oliver...he had mixed feelings...I guess I understand. Such a sweet boy having to go through that." She sniffed and I had to wonder if she was crying.

_Oh, please don't be crying! If she starts crying, I'll start too! Darn this emotional childish body!_

Naturally, after a few seconds we were both crying silently while clinging to each other. I was never quite sure why we were crying; I guess it just seemed like the right moment to. Eventually, we stopped and she sat back down. We spent about an hour discussing random things from my past life. I told her about my time at the Dursley's (which I had to calm her down from for she was rather unhappy about their treatment of me. Imagine that?) and then about how Hagrid had shown up. I told her of my first encounter with Voldemort and then my second with Tom Riddle. I even told her about my godfather, Sirius Black.

"Sirius Black is your godfather?" she gasped. "But...but he's a murderer!"

"No, no, wrong guy. Sirius was framed by Peter Pettigrew. Sirius is actually...pretty cool."

After explaining my third year to her and then moving onto my fourth to my...well, mysterious end, we were back where we had started. Now we had to think about the present.

"So...what should we do?" Betsy asked.

I tapped my chin with my index finger, contemplating. "Hm...hadn't thought about it much. I guess I don't have to do anything for now. I mean, I'm four; not much I can do."

"Well, shouldn't you inform someone?"

"Probably...actually, I'm not so sure if I should."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Well...think about it. I was killed, but then reincarnated. What if the same happened to Voldemort?"

She gasped. "Oh, dear, you're right!"

"Yeah, so maybe it's best that no one knows I'm back. I mean, if I'm lucky, he'll never get his memories like I have, but I can't be too sure. So, I think I'll wait until I get a letter from Hogwarts and go there...assuming that I've got magic in me. But until then...well, I'll just have to be patient and try and enjoy my childhood, won't I?" I said, smiling up at her.

"Yes, you will do just that! Now that you're away from those god awful Dursleys," she sneered, "I will make sure you have a much more pleasant childhood!"

_You'd think that, after getting my memories back, I'd want to jump right back into my old life. I thought I would too. However, the thought of sitting back and not having any obligations to either a family that hated my guts or a wizarding world that saw me as their savior was rather nice. Relaxing. Pleasant. Oh yeah, I don't think I could mind a few years of that._

---

_And, I didn't. After a few weeks, Betsy decided that she'd adopt me so I wouldn't have to leave the orphanage and, ergo, leave the only person who understood me. I moved into a room next to her sleeping courters and have been there ever since. It's filled wall to wall with stuffed bookshelves. Since, as an 'abnormal child' as Ms. Truax insists on calling me, I spend most of my day either helping out around the orphanage or reading. Betsy has also gotten me a few wizarding books (she is feigning an extreme interest in magic to her sister and Oliver and insists to them on having loads of stuff, most of which are books. Have I mentioned how awesome she is?); I've read these books front and back and have about memorized most of the text. I've even received books for future years in Hogwarts, which mean that when I go back, I'll probably be the smartest kid in the school. I'll admit, that's certainly something I'm looking forward to. _

_Every once and a while, Betsy contacts her sister and asks what's going on in the wizarding world for me. One thing I heard was that after my supposed death, Peter Pettigrew was found and sentenced to Azkaban. With everything out in the open, Sirius's name was cleared and he is now apparently teaching at Hogwarts (which made me burst out laughing). I had also heard a number of things about random people I had known including one duo being the Weasley twins, Fred and George opening a joke shop. Perfect, I had thought, nothing better for them. I knew that'd be the first shop I had to visit once I returned to the wizarding world. _

_There was also the development of my magic. Yes, I have magic, big surprise. I found out when I was five. One day, I had wanted a book in the makeshift library (more like small cupboard) that was on the top shelf. After much cursing of my small child body, I yelled at it to come down (I know, I know, it's childish, but I was technically five, so I got to act like it sometimes, right?). When it shot out and dropped on the floor, all my annoyance disappeared and I ran to Betsy to tell her, completely forgetting the book._

_Now, I'm finally eleven and am awaiting some sort of sign from the wizarding world. I'm not being overly eager, nor am I being depressed at the thought of returning. Actually, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the whole ordeal. I think I just kind of accept it as the inevitable. It's going to happen regardless and I've had a lot of time to enjoy myself. Truthfully, I'm quite at peace with the whole ordeal. Inside, I'm what, twenty-five? See, plenty of time to get used to the idea of things. Before, everything had been rushed and i had never really had much time to just enjoy living. Now I have. It's as if Fate decided to be nice to me for once. _

_So, here I am, sitting outside in the shade of the oak I'm leaning against, reading __The Hobbit__. I have no idea what's going to happen. Maybe they'll send a letter like last time? Maybe something else? Things might have changed in the past eleven years for all I know. I'm actually starting to get a little worried. What if I don't get a letter? What if I'm not obliged to return to being a wizard? Do I just live a normal life? Somehow, I doubt that, but still...what if..._

"Um...Charles?"

I turned around and saw Betsy walking towards me. When she got closer, I saw her face and the expression confused me. It was a mixture of excitement, yet anxiousness and slight fear.

"What's wrong, Betsy?" I asked as I stood up and met her.

"Come, Charles, there's someone here to...um...see you."

_Oh. I see. Something is definitely going on if she's calling me that. Usually, she calls me Harry when no one's around and even when some are. They don't question it; the others around here just seem to think that were in our own little world and are perfectly fine with leaving us there. Now I've got to wonder, exactly what's going on now?_

We reached the entrance and walked in. We went into the small waiting room and there sitting, tapping his foot nervously was none other than...

Neville Longbottom.

"No way," I mumbled under my breath.

"I know," Betsy whispered. "You mentioned a Longbottom, right? That's who introduced himself as, anyways. Wasn't he a roommate or something at your school?"

"Y-yeah." _Okay, this was weird. Probably the weirdest thing yet. I could keep going on and on about how weird this is, but at the moment, it seems I have to actually deal with the situation. Fun._

"Mr. Longbottom?" The man's head shot up and looked at Betsy. "Um...here's Charles."

I moved out from behind Betsy and glanced at Neville. With a better look at him, I could see that he'd actually gotten rather good-looking. He was taller and his roundness had become more angular and muscular. However, he still had that nervous twitchiness thing going that made me just kind of want to laugh. Not at his twitchiness, just at the familiarity of it.

That's when I noticed the look in his face. Awe. He was staring at me with absolute awe, as if I had just grown a tail or a third arm. Well, that seemed to confirm my thoughts on my appearance.

When I looked in the mirror for the first time, I noticed that, overall, I looked pretty much the same. Still rather on the short side for my age, same unmanageable hair and striking green eyes. The only major difference was that my scar was missing. I knew that I shouldn't have looked the same if I had been born from different parents, but I couldn't help but see the striking resemblance. Apparently, so did my old roommate.

"Um...hello Mr. Longbottom," I said in my polite 'I'm eleven and still cute' voice. I held my hand out to shake his.

At first, he just continued to stare at me. Then he seemed to realize that my hand was out and quickly went to shake it.

"Yes, yes, of course, hello Charles. I'm N-neville Longbottom and I'm h-here on behalf of Hogwarts school of...well, why don't we go somewhere more p-private to discuss? If you don't mind, of course!" he added hurriedly.

Betsy smiled. "Of course not, dear. Come, we'll go to my office."

So, we walked to her office in silence. I couldn't help but notice the sideways glances Neville gave me. I couldn't decide if I found them relieving that someone recognized me or unsettling for the same reason.

"Okay...um...well..." Neville began. Then, he sighed and sat down. "Sorry, this is my first time doing this."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetie," Betsy said, giving him a pat on the back. "Would you like some tea?"

"Um...yes, t-thank you."

Once again, silence. And it stayed that way until Betsy sat down and the three of us began sipping our tea.

"Um...okay, I guess I should begin." Neville grabbed his bag he had brought in with him and pulled out a number of things. First his wand, then what appeared to be a book on Mandrake roots, and then a few parchments, until he finally brought out a letter. "Okay, there we go." He looked at us and then looked at the stuff on the table and blushed. "Sorry..." he said as he began to return the items into his bag. After a moment more, he closed his bag and handed me the letter. As I opened it, Neville began to talk once again. "You see, I'm here at the headmaster of Hogwart's request to invite Charles to a school of..."

"Witchcraft and Wizarding, correct?"

Neville shot a look at Betsy. "H-how did you know of..."

"Oh, honey, calm down. My sister married a man named Oliver Wood who happens to be a wizard, so I actually know a lot about the wizarding world," she said simply.

Neville deflated. "Oh, thank Merlin. I thought I would have to explain everything and I don't think I know how to do that without sounding crazy."

"Oh, trust me, you could hardly sound crazy in our presence, dear. We're an odd group, aren't we?" Betsy said, winking at me.

I smirked back at her before returning my gaze to Neville. " So, Dumbledore's the Headmaster, right?"

"Huh?" _Oh, looks like he was starring at me. I bet this is rather uncomfortable talking to a kid that looks exactly like someone you know to be dead_. "Oh, yes, he is. Amazing man, he is. Very powerful."

"Yes. Um, what do you teach? Herbology?"

"Oh, yes, I...wait, how did you know that?"

_Oops._ "Um...your book on Mandrakes. Lucky guess."

"Oh...Well, yes, I'll be your Herbology teacher," he finished lamely. While I pretended to read my letter, I noticed he was starring at me once again.

_Okay, this is getting annoying. I know I resemble Harry Potter, 'cause I am him, but...if this is how everyone's going to look at me...no, I've got to do something about it. This will drive me mad!_

"Um...Professor, why are you starring at me?"

He jumped. "Huh? Oh! Sorry, really, it's just...well, you just look a lot like a friend of mine I had when I was your age, but he's gone..." _Ooh, blunt as ever I see._

"Really? Who?" _Oh, now I'm using my 'I'm just an innocent child who doesn't know any better' smile. I can see out of the corner of my eye that Betsy's giving me a very disapproving look. Don't worry, Bess, I'm working it out._

"Um...well, this is going to sound silly, ridiculous, but...you look a lot like...well...Harry Potter."

"Hm...really?"

"Yeah," he said, gaining a bit more confidence, "I doubt you could walk into Hogwarts without turning a few heads. I'm sure most of the professors will think the same thing."

_Thought so._ "Hm...that's not good. Betsy, what should I do?"

She got that contemplative look on her face and I knew immediately that she was reading my mind. "Oh, well, ever since you mentioned the striking resemblance, I've been thinking about that. How about dying your hair? You'd make a lovely blonde. Or perhaps you should be a redhead like those lovely Weasley's you've told me so much about?"

"Hm...I don't know...What do you think, _Professor_?"

_Oh yeah, look at that face, he's stunned. If he wasn't confused before, he is now. _

"W-what's going on here? W-who are you two?" _Okay, now he's panicking. Maybe it's time to stop the game._

"Calm down, Neville," I said. "Just know that Professor Trelawney has, once again, failed in one of her predictions, not that that's a big surprise. 'Course, she was half right, I suppose. I did die technically, just not completely."

"...What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly. I smiled.

"What I mean is, hi Neville, I'm glad you lived through that git of a potion master's classes and are good and well. Oh, but I can't help but wonder if he's still working there or not? How is good 'ol Snape doing?"

The look on his face was priceless. Gapping like a goldfish, he muttered, "....Harry?"

I grinned. "In the flesh...well, sort of."

He jaw dropped to the ground. "B-but...wait, how? When? What happened? Who..."

_So, to put things short, Betsy and I explained everything to Neville. We even told him about our theories on Voldemort's possible return._

He went pale. "You mean...you don't think he's dead?"

I nodded. "Well, most likely, he isn't. But it doesn't seem like he's gotten his memories back and, hopefully, never will."

Neville let out a long, strained sigh. "Right...Wow...this is so weird...but it's great to have you back, Harry," he said with a shy smile. I smiled back.

"It's good to be back, Neville."

Awkward silence followed those words until Neville looked at his watch and jumped up. "Oh no, I've got to get back!"

"Um, Nev, before you go, remember..."

He smiled knowingly and shook his head. "Don't worry, Harry, I won't tell a soul, not even Dumbledore."

"Thanks Nev." I gave him a grateful smile before asking, "Hey, do you mind changing my hair? Maybe a honey colour or something? I'm not a big fan of blonde or red..." Betsy gave a small huff.

"Oh, sure." He dug his wand out and held it over my head and, with a tap, my hair became lighter and lighter until it was a nice golden colour. "There you go. You still look like you, but...well, it's not too obvious."

"Thanks. Wow, you've gotten pretty good with that thing...no offense."

He laughed, "None taken." Then he added, more grimly, "Once you died, we all got more...serious. We didn't want anything like that to happen again."

_Oh._ "I see..."

We stood there for an awkward second before Betsy finally spoke. "Well, Neville, it was great meeting you."

"What? Oh, yes, it was great meeting you as well." She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush slightly.

I gave him a small hug before saying, "See ya soon....Professor."

_Ha! He looked like a tomato after that one! _

We said our goodbyes once again and then he was gone. And so, I commenced to counting down the hours in which I would be returning to Hogwarts which, for some odd reason, I was much more eager for. Hm. Odd.

---

_**Next up, Hogwarts! Woo hoo! **_

**_Review please, or I shall be very depressed! ;_;  
_**

_**+++Bubbyblack+++**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: Yay, chapter 3! Okay, I'll admit...this chapter's...weird...unexpected...yeah...Please don't kill me ^_^;; Oh, and I'm so glad you all liked Neville! I like him too...  
**_

_**Jesseka89:I did think about him using the vaults, but then I remembered that he doesn't have his key...and I even had a really good scene! -pouts- As for telling Sirius...well, he'll find out on his own...eventually...**_

_**Sylkie:I didn't think about that...hmm...Actually, I'm not even sure if they even turn into Padfoot or Moony before Harry is...'revealed'...hmm...good suggestion though!  
**_

_**Thanks to all of my re**_v_**iewers! You guys are AWESOME!  
**_

Chapter 3: Fate Makes Things Complicating

"One should expect that the expected can be prevented, but the unexpected should have been expected."

- Norman Ralph Augustine

_Okay, major deja vu..._

We arrived at the station and stepped up to the wall. I grabbed Betsy's hand to reassure her as we pushed my trunk through the wall and stepped in together. I began looking around, half of me hoping to see familiar faces, the other half just wanting to go back and stay away.

A week before we had gone to Diagon Alley (with Neville's help, of course) and had gotten all the supplies I needed. I actually had all my books already, thanks to Oliver, so I didn't really need much else. Most important of all, I needed a wand. At Olivanders, Olivander gave me a redwood ten inch' wand with hippogryph blood. It didn't feel the same as my old wand, but I guess it wasn't too bad. Still, I missed my wand. I wondered what had happened to it...

"You sure you're going to be okay, dear?" Betsy asked as we approached the train.

"No, not really," I answered honestly. "But I've got to go. And...I kind of want to go too, I guess."

She smiled and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "Well, don't worry about everything around you, just take things one step at a time. And don't feel pressured to do anything. You're Charles right now. And you can be Charles for as long as you want. I know that if...HE returns, you can't be Charles anymore, but for now...enjoy the childhood you deserve, okay, dear?"

I smiled up at her. Seriously, she always knew what I was thinking and always knew just what to say. "Thanks," I said quietly. She bent down to envelope me in a bone crushing hug. When she released me, she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "Well, don't you dare forget to write me! I'll admit, it'll look weird having an owl in the Infirmary, but I doubt anyone will argue...they've seen weirder."

I gave her another quick hug and replied, "Don't worry, I'll write, promise!"

She grinned and nodded. "Okay, off you go!" She pushed me away, handkerchief still at her eyes. I gave her one last smile before boarding the train.

---

_Okay, why am I nervous? I'm almost as nervous as I was the first time! Come on, Harry, pull yourself together! You've done this before, right? Of course you have. Nothing to fear, nothing to fear at all. Now, just sit here quietly and wait. Someone's bound to come in and join you, you know it's going to happen. Oh, and what's better is that you're not a celebrity! You're Charles the, well, assumed muggle-born! Oh, does that mean I should pretend to be totally clueless of everything wizarding like before? Hmm...well, technically, my adoptive mother knew of the wizarding world because of her sister, so there's no harm in me knowing a thing or two, right? Well, I don't see why not..._

The door opened.

"Can I sit in here, please? My mother keeps wanting to hug the death out of me and I can't stand it!" the boy begged and ranted.

I couldn't help but laugh and gesture to the seat in front of me, "Sure, go ahead."

The boy looked at me for a second. Then, with a sigh of relief collapsed onto the seat. "Thanks a lot, mate. I owe ya."

_Wow...major deja vu there, again. I haven't heard talk like that since...well...to be honest, I don't like thinking about them. My friends. Where they are, what they're doing. I've never really wanted to ask. I don't really know why, I just don't. The way Neville said things...no, I'll find out when the time comes, right?_

"So, what's your name?" The boy asked. I looked up at him. He had blonde hair and freckles. Odd combination. He was rather tall and looked like he was about a year or two older than myself...well, my outer self.

"Um...Charles," I muttered.

_I still don't have a last name. That's really not good...or rather, just kind of weird. I suppose I should take on Betsy's last name since she's my adoptive mother and all, but...well...the problem is...it's Evans. EVANS. My mother's maiden name just happens to be Betsy's last name! Coincidence? Actually, it is. She has absolutely no relation to Lily Potter, Petunia Dursley, or any of the other Evans. That's just it. A coincidence. Weird, I know...I almost think it's kind of clichéd...But, there's nothing I can do, right? _

"Charles what?"

_Ah, saw that one coming. Oh well, what the heck?_ _I live for irony. _"Evans. Charles Evans."

"Oh, cool. My name's Erol Weasley!" he said as he wrenched his hand out. At first, all I could do was stare at it.

_Weasley...a Weasley? How the...when...what? No no no, not possible, unless...no, I doubt they'd have more kids. Could he be the son of one of the older kids? Charlie or Bill maybe? Or maybe a cousin or something...but where's the red hair? _

"Um...hello? You okay?"

_Whoops, gotta stop doing that._ "Yeah, sorry, just thinking for a second." I shook his hand that was still in front of mine, waiting patiently, and smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same here. Hey, you a first year?" I nodded. "Great! My little brother's a first year too! Maybe you two can be friends?"

I smiled. "Sure...Um...where is he?"

A flash of guilt glinted on Erol's face. "Well..."

Suddenly, the compartment door swung open and there stood a smaller version of Erol, only with the Weasly's trademark red hair instead of blonde.

"How could you?" the boy yelled at his brother. "You left me with her! Do you know she smothered me for five whole minutes after you left? In front of everyone!" Erol and I exchanged glances before bursting with laughter. "It is not funny!" he shouted again before giving up and sitting next to his brother. His disgruntled look only made us laugh harder.

"C-charles," Erol tried, breathing heavily with his fit of unholy amusement, "this is my b-brother, Lance."

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Hey, I'm Charles...Evans."

He gasped. "Hey, are you related to a Lily Evans?" I stared at him, dumbfounded.

_What the Hell? How...how on earth...when...how does this kid know anything about my mother? No, wait, Harry's mother...No, I'm not Harry, I'm Charles...Charles Evans...no relation to Lily Evans. But what the hell?! Why does this kid know Lily Evans? Why?!_

"Um...no, why?"

He sagged a little and muttered, "No reason."

Erol moaned. "This isn't another Marauders thing, is it?"

_...How in the...when...what is going on here?! Is this some wizard reality show called "Let's All Screw With Little Harry's Mind!"?! Merlin, this is...impossible!...Well....improbable!_

"Hey, the Marauders were amazing and still are!" Lance retorted. Then he looked at me. "You know who Harry Potter is, right?" I shrugged. _No, no, of course not_. "Well, he defeated You-Know-Who! _Twice_! 'Course, the second time he died..." _Gee, thanks._ "But anyways, his father was apart of a group called the Marauders! They were these four pranksters that reined Hogwarts!" he said with a fist in the air. "My cousins Fred and George told me stories about them that they've heard from two of the originals! You see, there are actually four, but James Potter died when..."

And that's sort of how the ride went. I heard all about the Marauders...most of which, I already knew.

_To tell you the truth, this is all seeming way too ironic and coincidental. First, two Weasley's (oh, and they're apparently the son's of Arthur Weasley's brother...go figure) show up and start talking to me, then one of them recognizes the name of my mother from a previous life, then, it turns out, they know all about the lives of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs (and unfortunately his original failings with Ms. Evans that I'll admit, made me laugh quite a bit). I bet the Fates are just having a lovely time making my second life as humanly awkward as possible..._

"And guess what?" Lance said, bringing me out of my melancholy rant. "We get to meet the real things! Moony and Padfoot, Lupin and Black, are both teaching DADA! Isn't that awesome!"

"Yeah..." _Great. Even more awkward. I also can't help but notice that neither of these two have mentioned anything about Remus's lycanthropy, nor the fact that the other three Marauders were animagus. Oh well, can't blame them. It's no one's business. _

"I can't wait to meet them! Fred and George have told me about them, but meeting them in person..." I chuckled at the sparkles gleaming in his eyes. I couldn't believe how much Fred and George must have pulled out of Remus and Sirius.

"Hey, you two, we're almost there!" Erol snapped. We began stuffing things back in our bags and dressing into our robes. We waited patiently for the train to stop and the other kids to leave before departing ourselves.

I'm sure I've said this before, but it was seriously the worst case of deja vu I had ever had! It was as if nothing had ever changed...which I wasn't sure if I was okay with or not.

All the first years were gathered into a group near the lake. Hagrid was still there, one thing I was naturally very thankful for, and he led us to the boats. Some of the kids looked pretty nervous. I could understand, having gone through it once before, but its effect had sort of worn off by now. I mean, I had swam with merpeople that probably wanted to skin me alive during the Second Task. I was kind of immune to things now.

Hagrid began to sort kids into boats. When he got to me and Lance, he stopped. Then, he burst into tears. I stood there, rather dumbfounded, as I watched the poor man blubber into huge hands. One of the older years, maybe a sixth year, came over and tried to comfort him. It took a few minutes. Agonizing minutes, in my opinion. I suppose, in the dark, my hair looked much darker than it was and the appearance of me was just too much for the man. I couldn't help but feel an absolute dread settle in the bottom of my stomach. Like a bunch of rhinos had decided to stay there and take a nap.

"S-sorry, got a bit...yer just so...never mind." Hagrid moved over to the boats and gestured to us. I walked over and settled in.

"Thank you, sir," I said. "Um...I hope you feel better."

He looked down at me then smiled a bit. "Thank ya...um...what's yer name?"

"Charles," I said, smiling back. I don't think he would have been able to handle the last name. Actually, I don't think I could even handle it.

"Well," he sniffed, "it's good ta meet 'cha. I'm the Magical Creature's Professor, Hagrid."

I smiled. I couldn't wait for his class. For some odd reason they decided that first years should start taking the Magical Creature's course as well. I just hoped it would be a lot less....threatening as a first year. "I'm looking forward to your class, sir."

He grinned, "As ya should! I got some good things planned fer this year, don't you worry!" He gave me a pat on the back, which just about knocked me over, before sending the boat on its way.

I was glad that he seemed back to normal again, but I couldn't help but be a little scared. Only Merlin knew what Hagrid had planned for us this year.

---

After that, I pretty much stuck to the back of the group. I did not want to rise suspension to any of the other teachers and didn't particularly like the stares anyways. I knew I probably should have changed my eye colour too, but I didn't have the heart. I liked my eyes. I wanted to keep them. It's also why I kept my hair unruly. It reminded me of my parents. How everyone used to comment on how my eyes were the exact replica of Lily's and how I had the same hair as James, the kind he'd always purposely mess up. It always made me laugh when I thought of that. Maybe I should have forgone the glasses. Granted, they weren't the same round rimmed frames from before, rather a more rectangular shape, but they were still another similarity.

_Oh well, can't help it now. Besides, it would make my eyes more noticeable, right? And I refuse to cover them up. Damn! If only I had a different body structure or something! I mean, I had always sort of thought my small frame was due to the Dursley's, but even with a good upbringing I'm still small! I look more like an eight- or nine-year-old! I didn't think I would grow up looking exactly the same. It's actually really weird how that happened. I should probably be worried about this, but I can't find myself feeling that right now. No, right now I need to worry about facing the professors and the Sorting Hat. _

As tradition, the first years walked into the Hall and stood in the middle. I knew it was stupid, but I couldn't help but look up at the main table. At the end sat Hagrid, looking much better now and Neville sat next to him looking nervous as usual. At the other end sat a grumpy Snape (no surprise there) and next to him were none other than Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.

_You know, I knew they'd be here, but still...it's odd. I wish I could run up to them and tell them everything. I wish I could tell Hagrid to stop being so weepy. I wish I could jump on the tables and tell everyone, but I know I can't. As much as I want to, it would put them in too much danger. What if Voldemort somehow got his memories back like me? What if he came to the same conclusion and started trying to track me down? If anyone knew...they could be taken away and tortured...or worse. No, it's best that they don't know. If they're saddened by my death and all, then Voldemort wouldn't mess with them, right? Besides, if I keep my cover well enough, Voldemort wouldn't even know where to begin his search. I just hope Betsy doesn't get dragged into this. I don't think Neville will be suspected, but...I still feel guilty. Maybe I shouldn't have involved either of them. _

"Charles Evans."

My head snapped up. I hadn't even realized that the sorting had begun. Professor McGonagall, who I don't think I even took notice of until now, was starring out at the first years, waiting patiently. Lance, who was standing behind me, jabbed me in the back and I stepped forward. I saw everything. The breath McGonagall took in, the way Hagrid looked at me in that threateningly weepy way, the comforting smile Neville tried to send me, the widening eyes of Remus and Sirius, who didn't seem to be paying much attention until now, Snape's look of slight awe and confusion. The thing I noticed most, though, was the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as mine met his. Oh yeah, he definitely knew. No mistaking that.

I sat on the stool and looked out at the students. Luckily, it was not like last time. This time, with the exception of the professors staring at my back, I was a normal kid to all the students. I was not a celebrity, I was just another first year with no expectations. This brought more relief to me than anything.

_So, back again I see, Mr. Potter._

_Woah, what? _

_Ah, trying to cover it up, are you? I'm afraid you can't fool me._

_Hmph. Guess not. _

_So, where would you like to go?_

_Uh...you're letting me choose? _

_Well, I've already made my opinion once before, but you didn't seem to like it that much_, the voice grumbled.

_Oh, so you still think that would be best?_

_Yes._

_Well, you're the Sorting Hat. You know best. _

_It's about time you realized that. Welcome back, Harry Potter, or do you prefer Charles Evans now?_

I didn't have time to reply before a loud "Slytherin!" was shouted from it's mouth and removed from my head. A cheer rang from the Slytherin table while others rolled their eyes or ignored them. I jumped off the stool and walked over to their table. Where I usually expected sneers and rude insults, I was granted smiles and congratulations. I sat where they had made some room for me and turned to watch the rest of the sorting.

Since I didn't necessarily know any of the people being sorted, I just kind of sat there thinking.

_Dang, Sirius won't stop staring! And Remus isn't much better, though at least he's a bit more subtle with those little glances of his. Oh Merlin, please don't cry Hagrid! Come on you guys, I can't possibly look that much like Harry, right? Okay, I know that's a lie, I'm the exact replica, but you guys should know I'm not! Even though I am...okay, this is annoying. And I have no idea why Snape keeps starring at me. Wait...I'm in his house! I'm not going to get ostracized every time I see him! Oh, that's awesome. Sure, he'll kill me when or if he ever finds out who I am, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it while I can, right? Being a Slytherin rocks!_

"Lancelot Weasley."

_Woah, now that's a name. Poor Lance, the Hall's trying to keep from laughing, but I don't think they're succeeding well._

Lance, with a look of embarrassment and slight annoyance (probably silently cursing his parents in his head), sat down at the bench. After a moment or two with the hat on his head, it shouted out something no one would have ever expected.

"Slytherin!"

_Merlin....he didn't just....a Weasily in Slytherin? What on...when....what was this kid?_

I glanced at my now fellow Slytherin's. They looked just about as stumped as I'm sure I did. I gazed up at the professors and just about cracked up.

_Snape, Merlin, Snape! I can't tell if he's disgusted, surprised, or just plain struck. Ha! Oh crud, I'm snickering, but I can't stop! It's too good! A Weasliy in Slytherin! And, unknown to him, a Potter! Oh wow, this is not Snape's day! _

"Hey," Lance said as he plopped down next to me.

"Hey....You don't seem too surprised to be here."

"Nah, I knew I'd be in Slytherin. Fred and George have been saying it for years. I don't really mind though, Slytherin's don't sound nearly as bad as I've been told. I bet they're...we're just misunderstood." He gave me a small smile. "Besides, now we're in the same house!"

I grinned back. "Yeah, we are. You know, I figured you'd be depressed about not being in Gryffindor."

"Why?"

"Well, the Marauders were Gryffindors, right? Actually, their favourite pass time would be pranking Slytherins."

Lance smiled. "I know. You see, I think the Gryffindors have had enough pranksters, don't you? I think there might be a need for a new house to rein as Pranksters of Hogwarts."

_Oh, I hadn't thought of that...but it does sound fun. This kid really is a Slytherin._ "May I join you in this escapade of yours?" I asked formally.

"Why, I'd be insulted if you didn't." We shook hands and then began conversing with our fellow classmates and now roommates. There were no sneers, no snide comments, just pleasant conversations. It was nice. I honestly never would have ever expected to say that about Slytherins, but it was true. Plus, I think I looked rather good in green, if I do say so myself...which I do.

---

_**-laughs- Sorry, I had to put them in Slytherin! As a fellow Slytherin -waves green flag- I just had to have my main character there too! Told you to expected the unexpected...though, if you ask me, it was kind of obvious...well, maybe not...I dunno...**_

_**Also, what did you guys think of the Weasley's? My friends that have read this adore Lance, so hopefully you guys will too!**_

_**Alrighty, please review! It makes me veeeeery happy! **_

_**+++Buddyblack+++**_

_**GO OBAMA!! XD  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: Woo hoo! Chapter 4, finally...sorry, folks, I've been a tad...busy lately...Anywho, as you can tell from the title, this chapter involves good 'ol Snape...yep...enjoy...  
**_

_**JWOHPfan: -laughs- Sorry, had to do it ^_^ But thank you for the review anyways, even though I dampened your mood; it meant a lot to me XD**_

_**GinnyLover14: Yeah, I realized that, so I decided to let first years take the course...and maybe have Hagrid teach them about something that would seem less harmful to him (like a dragon..).**_

_**Loony Dagda:Well, the Slytherin's are nice to their own kind, right? That's what I figured, at least...And Dumbledore...well, he's Dumbledore...you never know, he might have known all along :) Don't worry, Dumbles will have A LOT of explaining in the future...As for Voldemort, I'm sorry, but I won't be giving any info on him ^_^ Don't worry, he'll come up soon...eventually...let's just say, he makes a rather...extravagant appearance.**_

_**zodiacblue: -sniff- You don't know how much your comment meant to me. I've read those stories that just end up grating on your mind all day, and the fact that my story affected you that way -sniff- is overly touching! Seriously, these are the kind of comments I dream about!....and now that I've thoroughly creeped you out, I think I should probably move on to the next comment...but once again, THANK YOU!**_

_**Also, thanks to all my other reviewers! You guys are the best! And your kind comments mean so much to me! ;_; Also, I'm glad you all liked them being in Slytherin! Hopefully, you'll like this chapter too...**_

Chapter 4: Potion Masters Are Not a Force to be Reckoned With

"_Well, I screwed it up real good, didn't I?"_

Richard M. Nixon

Despite being in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, things were pretty much the same. We walked to the dungeons and were told our password ('Murtlap'), then went inside and began looking around the place. A glance or two inside made me feel a bit guilty since I recognized it (but at least I know how to make a Polyjuice potion and, unfortunately, know how bad it tastes). Well, no point in worrying about that, it was in the past. Literally.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Lance seemed to be vibrating off the walls and taking in everything. When we got to the dormitory, Lance, two other boys, and myself picked our beds. I chose the one at the far left and Lance chose the one next to mine. A boy named Alvis Rosier, a tall figure with brown hair and a pointy nose took the bed next to his. Gunnar Rosier, Alvis's twin, picked the last bed. The only way to tell the two apart was that while Alvis had brown hair, Gunnar's was dyed bright, neon green. Otherwise, you would have had just as good a chance of telling Fred from George around as those two.

"So, Lance and Charles, right?" Alvis asked politely.

I gave him a nod. "Yeah, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Gunnar said as he came up to shake hands with Lance and I. "So, a Weasley in Slytherin, huh? How'd that happen?"

Lance laughed. "Dunno, guess I'm just more cunning and mischievous than the rest of my family," he said with a sardonic grin.

Gunnar laughed too. "Good enough! What's your story, Evans?"

"Polite as always, brother," Alvis drawled, but looked over curiously at me. "Though I don't believe I've ever heard of the Evans family."

_This is when I start to panic. Though I don't technically know if I'm a muggleborn or not, I've still got a muggle adoptive mother. I wonder how they'll react to that? Actually, I'm more afraid than curious. Oh well, I think I'm telling enough lies already, so I might as well stick to the truth as much as possible. _

"Well, I don't really know who my family was, whether they were pureblood's or muggles. I was left at an orphanage when I was a year old. But my adoptive mother, Betsy Evans, is a muggle."

"Wow, how'd she take the news? You know, you being a wizard and all?" Lance asked.

"Actually, she already knew about the wizarding world. Her sister married a wizard a few years back and she's known ever since. Um...when she saw that I had magic, she adopted me and...told me everything she knew about being a wizard and....stuff. 'Course, she asked her sister and brother-in-law for information too, I guess..." I sort of trailed off after that and looked up at the three boys.

The look on my face must have been pretty apprehensive, because after a moment Gunnar burst out laughing and said, "Don't worry, we're not evil purebloods who are going to roast you alive because you grew up with muggles!"

"Considering we're not purebloods, it would be rather hard," Alvis added in a solemn voice, but gave me a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, dad's a wizard, but mum's a muggle, so were actually half-bloods!" Gunnar informed with a grin.

"Yes, which means the only pureblood here would be the Weasley...who's technically a bloodtraiter."

I grinned. "Well, I bet Salazar's overjoyed with the new additions to Slytherin this year," I added sarcastically.

After a good laugh and some more pointless dribble, luckily none of which required any more lies, it was after midnight and we decided to go to bed. All in all, I thought it had gone fairly well considering it was my first day back in the wizarding world after, supposedly, being dead for a good ten years or so.

_Not much has changed, I guess. I've got a Weasley as a friend again. While he's certainly not like my first friend, he's got the same rash tendencies, I suppose. But he seems a bit smarter maybe. In truth, he's kind of a combination of my two former best friends. I wish I knew how they were, but I know better than to ask. It would just make it harder to keep things secret. No, for now, Neville and Betsy (and Dumbledore?) are good enough. I already feel bad about getting them dragged into this mess._

---

Transfiguration. That was our first class. When we walked in (not late, like the first time, but five minutes early, thank you very much), I saw Professor McGonagall sitting on her desk, tail twitching patiently as she watched us enter. It seemed we were the first to arrive.

"Wow Charles, how'd you know where this room was?" Gunnar asked.

"Lucky guess," I said as I swept into the room. I took a seat in the middle (the back always meant trouble, but the front meant eager to learn, a.k.a. nerd, so the middle was just right) and I looked up. The cat, McGonagall, stared back.

"Hello, Professor," I said as if the phrase were as commonplace as any and not being said to a cat. The cat in question jumped slightly.

"Char, who're you—bloody hell!" Lance yelled as Professor McGonagall shifted into her human form.

"Language, Mr. Weasley," she commented offhandedly. However, her gaze was on me. "Tell me, Mr. Evans, how did you know?"

"I read the Registry," I said quickly. "You're a registered Animagus, right?"

She blinked a few times before nodding, "Yes, that is correct Mr. Evans." She stared at me for another moment before going to the front of the class and murmuring, "Five points to Slytherin."

The rest of my fellow roommates sat down after that with Lance next to me and Alvis and Gunnar behind us. With only a minute or two until class was to start, other first years had started coming in. The Slytherins were sharing a class with the Gryffindors (big surprise, right?), who seemed to be doing a lot of glaring on their part. However, we just ignored them. The girl Slytherins, two girls with black hair, one with brown, and the last with blonde, joined us on the right side of the classroom while the Gryfindors settled in on the left.

If I was wondering if the houses had settled their differences before, I certainly wasn't wondering now. It was perfectly clear that Gryffindors still did not like Slytherins. Their glares were making that pretty obvious. Then again, Gunnar sticking his tongue out at them in response didn't seem to be making it much better...but it did make it funnier.

It was even more humorous when Alvis yanked his ear and Gunnar yelped, making the whole classroom laugh. That lightened the mood and the glares stopped, at least until McGonagall shot one at us and we all quieted. After that, the first class was, in my opinion, boring. After McGonagall's introduction, we began our first transfiguration spell: turning a match into a needle. It was boring, simple magic.

I pointed my wand at the match and muttered the incantation. Poof. A needle. Oh fun.

"Mr. Evans, it seems you have surprised me once again," McGonagall said with a hint of exasperation, but not enough to be noticeable. "Five more points to Slytherin." She walked away, but seemed to keep one eye on me at all times.

_Well, duh, of course she's going to watch me. I've been a careless idiot twice so far. I shouldn't have known about her Animagus, nor should I have been able to produce that spell so well. Seriously, how stupid am I? I guess I've got the rest of class to figure that out. Forty-three minutes. Bollocks._

I looked over at Lance, who seemed to be rather frustrated, and then behind me. Gunnar had the same expression as Lance while his brother seemed calm and calculating, though a bit peeved as well. By the end of class, Alvis managed the spell (earning Slytherin another five points, much to the distaste of the Gryffindors) five minutes before McGonagall began collection the matches (well, most of them were still matches. Gunnar had somehow managed to turn his green, "To match my hair!", and others had matches that were singed slightly, or completely...one Gryffindor had reduced his to ash).

"I can't believe you got that spell so quickly!" Lance said to me once we got into the hall. "You and Alvis have to help me!"

"Yeah, me too!" Gunnar added in.

"Well, if you hadn't spent your time trying to turn it green, you might have figured it out," Alvis chided his brother, who moaned.

"Oh, that's harsh, bro. Besides, it was an accident."

"Sure it was."

"It was!"

"Uh-huh."

The twins bickered back and forth all the way to Charms class. Surprisingly, it seemed none of the teachers had changed since I was last there. Except for Remus and Sirius being the DADA Professors (not sure what happened to Professor Moody), they all appeared to have remained the same. Unfortunately, so did their teaching lessons.

Charms consisted of learning how to use the Levitation Charm. "Well done, Mr. Evans, well done!" Professor Flitwick piped when I performed it perfectly at the beginning of class. I just didn't feel up to pretending. Might as well play the genius card. History of Magic was boring as ever, Binns made sure of that. Luckily, out of pure boredom, I had already read through about every history book he'd think to reference from. You know, when it's not being taught to you in a dull, drawling voice, history isn't so bad.

After lunch was Potions. Now that I was in Snape's own house, I wasn't sure how I'd be treated, honestly. Something told me, deep down, Snape would hardly treat me any different. Somehow, he'd know.

When we arrived, the man was sitting at his desk and looking over some random parchments. He didn't even spare his students a glance until it was time for class. Right one the mark, he stood abruptly, sauntered to the front of the class, and bellowed, "Silence!"

The class jerked and settled down immediately, terrified of the bat in black. Snape sneered, probably satisfied that he still had it.

"Welcome to Potion's," he began in a rather bored voice. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." His speech, all too familiar to me, went on. However, something was wrong. His usual cold glare was rather dull and his speech lacked the care and control it did the first time I had heard it. It was odd to say the least, but not exactly disheartening.

"Now," he started, "Who can tell me what you would get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Silence. _Gee, you're not going to ask some poor, clueless first year directly and completely embarrass him in front of the whole class, Snape? Why, I think you've gotten a bit soft. Or maybe he's still stunned from receiving a Weasley into his house. Oh well, might as well raise my hand._

"Mr. Evans?" he asked, though it seemed oddly strained.

"It would make a powerful sleeping potion that's also been known as the Draught of Death." I stopped for a moment, then added, "Living Death."

He gave me a look, one I can't accurately describe, then nodded. "Correct, five points to Slytherin. Now, can you tell me what a bezoar does and where I might find it?" he inquired.

"It's found in the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons."

"Another five points. Lastly, what is the difference between a monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"Um...there isn't. Aren't they the same plant?"

He gave a curt nod. "They are. Another five points." By this point, Snape was standing in front of me with a confused, yet slightly bemused look on his face. He paused before adding, with a slight smirk, "Well done."

Class continued with Snape paring us off (Alvis and me, and Lance and Gunnar) and telling us how to create a potion that cured boils; yet another teacher that decided to be nice and repetitive. Avis and I made a perfect potion without any problems at all. Lance and Gunnar weren't doing bad either, but kept muttering back and forth to one another.

"Should we add the slugs yet?"

"No, I think it needs to simmer another minute."

"Are you sure?"

"Not really."

Alvis and I chuckled softly as we watched them pester over their cauldron. At the end of class, we bottled our potions and placed them on Snape's desk. As we packed up and began to leave, Snape stopped me.

"A word, Mr. Evans."

I nodded hesitantly. "Sure."

Once the class had left and after convincing Lance, Alvis, and Gunnar to go on ahead, I turned to Snape. He was giving me that look again.

_What is wrong with him? He looks confused, yet amazed, yet...content? Is it maybe a hint of happiness I see there? Or maybe that's weariness. What's going on? Oh Merlin, I'm dead. I don't even know why, I just am! He just looks...I don't know....weird! Oh geez, I'm dead, I'm dead, I am so dead._

Snape sat down at his desk and indicated a chair that sat in front of it. I sat down and looked up. I felt like his onyx eyes were staring holes into me. Then, he let out a sigh and began.

"Did you _really_ think you could fool me, Potter?" I jumped up, almost toppling my chair over in the process.

_Oh yeah, definitely dead. How did he know? How the bloody Hell did he know? Was it the questions? My eyes? What? What did I do? What in Merlin's name did I do wrong? Well, besides pretending that I'm not the bloody Boy-Who-Lived...but then died...only to live again...Ah geez, now I'm confusing myself...I think I need a therapist. _

Snape let out another exasperated sigh. "Sit down, Mr. Potter, I'm not going to attack you or anything."

"I....I don't know what you're talking about," I sputtered. _Oh yeah, like he's going to believe that._

Snape glowered at me sternly. "No, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, sit down or I'll go and get that mutt of a godfather down here and he can ask you questions."

I gulped. As much as wanted to tell Sirius, I knew I couldn't have any more people know. But why Snape of all people?

I, reluctantly, sat down. "How did you know?"

He smirked. "Because, as a potion master, I'm very good at noticing subtle differences and, in this case, similarities in things. The way you talk, walk, look. It's a clear as day who you are, or were. The only thing left to find out was if you remembered, which you fell for."

_Oh. Right._

"Now tell me, why are you here and why does no one know it?"

I released the breath I'd been holding and decided, what the heck, might as well confess. "Actually, I have no idea why I'm back. I remember an explosion while fighting Voldemort and then I was waking up as a four-year-old who was recovering from a concussion. I ended up telling a nurse at the orphanage…"

"Orphanage?"

"Uh, yeah, I don't know who my parents are, or Charles's parents. Anyways, I told the nurse, Betsy, everything and she decided to help me." I continued to tell him about Betsy and her sister and Oliver. Then I told him about how I had spent my years, reading and simply trying to enjoy my life. I went on to tell him about my suspensions involving Voldemort and explaining my reasoning on keeping things a secret. I also informed him that Neville knew as well and my suspicions that Dumbledore also had a fairly good guess.

"I wouldn't doubt it. No one can sneeze in this castle without him knowing." _Did Snape just make a joke? _"So, you think Voldemort might return?"

"Yes." When he paled slightly, I added, "Then again, he might not remember like I have and might not grow up to be the same...but with my luck, I doubt it." Something occurred to me then. I knew I shouldn't have asked, but I had to. "Um, sir?"

"Yes, Potter?" he asked tiredly.

"I'm guessing from your reaction that you're not a deatheater, right? I mean, I know I shouldn't doubt Dumbledore's trust and all, but I remember one night during my fourth year when I came across you and Karkaroff talking and showing each other your arms and...."

"Karkaroff is dead," he said simply. "And actually, yes, I am a deatheater." Now I was the one to turn as white as a sheet. "However, I'm am not a loyal deatheater."

I thought for a moment. "You're a spy."

"Correct. I worked as a spy for both sides, technically, but the only side that got any actual information would be the light. Unfortunately, none of the other deatheaters thought it would be good to tell me of their plans, as they already suspected that I was disloyal to the Dark Lord, so I had no way of knowing...that night..."

"It's okay, Professor, I understand." For some odd reason, I knew that if he had known, he would have done anything to prevent it. Why did I know that? I have no bloody idea. Maybe it was instinct. I gave him a slight smirk, "Though you could have been a little less obvious with your 'I hate Potter' tirade."

He chuckled. Snape actually chuckled! "Of course I made things unpleasant for you. Not only were you the defeater of my so called 'master', you were also my worst enemy's clone and a celebrity who, I had once thought must have lived the life of a royal. I, however, had the displeasure of meeting your so called family."

I was horrified. "You...met the Dursley's? _Why_?"

Snape sighed. "Dumbledore had asked me if I could break the news to them. When I arrived and knocked on the door, who should open it but dear Petunia? I swear, if I had known that that was who you were staying with, I would have had Dumbledore remove you from that place years ago."

I gaped at him. "Wait, how do you know my Aunt Petunia?" I asked.

A look of unease flashed across his face. "We'll save that for another day, Mr. Potter. Now, I should probably let you go before your friends decide I've eaten you or something."

I laughed softly. "Right." I got up to leave and had reached the door before turning around and adding, "Um, Professor? You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Mr. Potter, I assure you that I am fully capable of keeping your identity a secret. We'll have more time to discuss things later, but for the time being, I will keep my lips sealed." He glanced up from the papers that he had begun reading and gave me a rare, sincere, smile. My jaw almost dropped to the floor, but I shut it before it could reach. "Now, go tell your fellow…Slytherins," _wow, that sounded strained; thinking of Weasley I bet,_ "that I haven't drained you of all your blood or something."

I chuckled. "Thank you, Professor. I will." And with that, I left.

---

_**So, how'd you like it? Snape haters, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Snape and Harry will be hanging out much more in the future...but not too much...but enough...(come on, give me a break, he needs SOMEONE to confide in!). Also, keep in mind that Harry still has no idea what happened to Moody...so...yeah.....**_

_**Alrighty, next chapter: Harry/Charles and friends go to DADA and...well, it's a LOT more interesting than his classes were in this chapter. After that, Dumbledore and him finally talk face to face...and it's not exactly the conversation Harry was expecting...**_

_**I'll probably update pretty soon (it's Thanksgiving break! Woo hoo! -dances-).**_

_**Please, please, PLEASE review! Please and thank you.**_

_**+++Buddyblack+++**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: Okay, I kind of like this chapter...and I kind of don't...some parts seem kind of corny to me...and improbable...but then again......well, just read it...**_

_**Oh, and thanks for the reviews! You guys are so nice! -sniff- So so kind...  
**_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

"_Lord, defend me from my friends; I can account for my enemies." _

_- Charles D'Hericault_

Chapter 5: Returning with a Vengeance

"Dang, mate, I thought you were a goner for sure! I mean, I was starting to think that Professor Snape was a vampire (you've heard those rumors, right?) and had sucked you dry! I mean, I could just imagine it!" Lance got up from his bed and grabbed the sheet from it. He wrapped it around like a cape and covered his mouth. Then he began to speak in a fake accent, "You, Mr. Evans, have passed the test! You are truly the most intelligent wizard of your age! Therefore, I must have your blood!"

Alvis and Gunnar laughed as Lance chased me around the room, trying to bite me. Lance tripped on the sheet and fell forward, thus toppling onto me, then onto Alvis and Gunnar who were sitting on one of the beds in front of us. So, as a pile, we cracked at the seams and burst into fits of laughter.

"Snape just wanted to know how I knew the answerers to his questions," I lied once we had settled down and I was able to form full sentences again. "So I told him about the books I had read and then we just got to talking and lost track of time. You know, he's not that bad."

"Nah, guess not," Lance said, grudgingly. "At least we're not Gryffindors! Did you see how he tormented them?"

"Priceless," Gunnar mused.

_Hm...you know, I wonder why Snape didn't attack me like he usually does? I mean, I know I'm a Slytherin and all now, but something tells me that would hardly stop him. He was actually civil to me...at the one time he probably deserved to be anything but. Then again, my potion was, for once, perfect, so maybe it was the fact that he just couldn't find anything wrong. Somehow, I don't think that's the reason either. _

---

To say Lance was excited would have been the understatement of the century. He was practically jumping off the walls with glee as we made our way to the DADA room. It was to be expected though since he was about to meet two men that he worshiped like gods.

_I wonder what Sirius and Remus are going to think when they find out that their biggest fan is a Slytherin? Hopefully they'll feel better than Snape did with a Weasley in his house...Then again, it might be a little entertaining to give Sirius that kind of shock..._

We made sure to get there a few minutes early, humouring Lance, so that he could meet them and get his excitement poured out before class. When we entered, Lance immediately began searching for his idols. Gunnar, who was rather curious about the prodigies we had heard so much about, followed suit. Alvis and myself stood back and watched, smirking in amusement.

"Ah, first years! Remus, first years!" We turned to our right to see Sirius come running out of a door in the side of the classroom, which I assumed to be his office. He ran up to us eagerly and smiled. "Well, if it isn't the group of Slytherin's I've heard so much about?"

_Huh? We haven't even done anything yet! I mean, sure, I am (supposedly) a very quick learner, so is Alvis. Lance and Gunnar are goofy, sure, but it's only been two days. That isn't enough time to get into any serious trouble, right? Actually, I think we've been on pretty good behavior, considering what house we're in. _

"What do you mean, sir?" I asked.

Sirius gave me a slightly startled look before shaking his head and laughing. "Well, naturally I've heard of the well-behaved first year Slytherin boys!" _Ah. so it was the good behavior._ "It's amazing, not a pureblood amongst you! Well, except Mr. Weasley here!" Sirius said as he ruffled Lance's hair. Lance looked as if he would pass out any second of pure joy.

"You're...you're...Padfoot!"

Sirius smiled again. "That I am! Now, where is our little Moony?"

"I'm not your little Moony, Pads. Say that again and I'll bite you," Remus said as he came out of the same door Sirius had, smirk placed artfully on his slightly scarred face.

I chuckled silently to myself, having been the only one besides Sirius and Remus himself to understand the joke in between the lines. Remus gave me an inquiring look, but said nothing. He walked up to us and looked down.

"Ah, you must be Lance. Fred and George have told us a lot about you."

Lance blushed slightly.

"Trust me, they've told him a lot about you two as well. We've had the pleasure of listening to it. Over and over and over..." Gunnar was silenced when Lance, blushing furiously, elbowed him in the stomach.

Sirius laughed while Remus chuckled.

"It's good to have a fan! Even if it is a Slytherin," Sirius said with a smile and a wink. "So, everyone knows who we are, but who might you all be?" he asked, looking at the twins and myself.

"I'm Gunnar!" yelled the green haired twin. "I hate tea, but I love Quidditch! I want to be a Chaser!"

Alvis smirked at his brother's enthusiasm. "I am Alvis. I happen to love tea, but don't particularly care for Quidditch. I'd rather read." This earned him a rather large grin from Remus.

Then, all eyes were on me, two more familiar than I had wished at the moment. "Um...I'm Charles. I don't really mind tea, as long as my dregs aren't being read. As for Quidditch, I'd like to be...a Seeker." There was an awkward silence, so I added, "Um...reading's nice too."

_Okay, I hate lying, but maybe I should have this time. Maybe I just should have said I liked Quidditch and leave out the Seeker part? Or perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the whole dregs part; Remus knows how much I hated having the future predicted by Trelawney during Divination. _

"Hey, Charles, how do you know you want to be a Seeker? I mean, you lived in a muggle orphanage, right? Have you even played before?"

I froze. I hadn't thought of that.

"Muggle orphanage?" Remus asked.

Thankful for the switch of conversation, I explained, "I was an orphan until I was four and my now adoptive mother, Betsy Evans," the men twitched, "adopted me when she saw me accidentally use magic while playing outside." _That's sort of the truth._ "She knew of magic because her sister married a wizard. She's a nurse at the orphanage, so I didn't really move, I just stayed in a room near her quarters." _There we go. A nice quick intro. Now, if I can just keep my mouth shut..._

Remus and Sirius glanced at each other and looked as if they wanted to ask something else, but Lance spoke.

"Yeah, and she even has the last name of Prong's wife, right? Lily Evans? I asked him if there was any relation, but he said there wasn't."

_Lance, you idiot!_

"That's...right," Remus managed to get out. There was another awkward moment before he spoke again, "Well, the others should be arriving any moment, so why don't you four take a seat?"

"Yeah, we'll talk to you guys later; maybe even tell you about some good pranks, hm?" Sirius winked and walked off towards the front of the classroom with Remus.

Throughout the lesson, both Professors continuously sent me glances. Not that I blamed them.

_Seriously, how obvious can I be? Mental groan! I mean, I've got my mother's name and eyes, my father's messy hair (though, luckily, no longer same colour) and I even want to be a Seeker! Am I really that stupid? Apparently so! I might as well ignore the fact that I've spent my years since I was four reading nothing but muggle and wizarding books! I may be a genius here in class, but otherwise I'm a total idiot! Geez, I'm screwed if little 'ol Tom ever finds me..._

"Charles!"

I snapped my head up and looked at Lance. "What?"

"Class is over, mate. Were you even paying attention?" he asked with a bit of annoyance in his voice. Clearly, anyone who didn't pay attention to his precious deities would not be in his good graces.

"Sorry," I muttered, "I was thinking about something. I didn't realize I wasn't paying attention." Which was entirely true.

Lance frowned. Alvis and Gunnar came up from behind him. "What were you thinking about?" Alvis asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing important."

Lance and Gunnar shrugged and walked over to the door, waving at the two Marauders as they went. Alvis, however, did not move.

"Um...something wrong?"

"Your head. There's something on it," he said, squinting at my forehead.

This worried me. Where he was staring was unsettling. But I knew it couldn't be; the scar was gone. I had checked continuously when I first remembered who I was. It was the only thing different from my original self and it certainly wasn't missed.

However, as he continued to stare, my worry deepened. I grabbed my book and transfigured it into a mirror. I ignored the gasp from Alvis and looked in the mirror at my forehead. My face paled.

_No. No no no! It's there! Bollocks! Bloody hell! I mean, it's not as visible as it was before; actually, it's barely visible at all. But still, it's there. This isn't good. No, this isn't good at all. Oh Merlin, I'm dead. Dead, dead, very dead. What could this mean? Could it mean...is he back? Could Voldemort be back? Merlin, no. Yep, I'm dead. Dead, dead, dead..._

I dropped the mirror on the table and ran from the classroom, ignoring Alvis once again as he yelled after me.

---

"Professor Snape!" I yelled as I banged his classroom door open.

Snape's office door slammed open. "What is wrong with you, boy?" he demanded.

"It's back! My scar, it's back!" I yelled desperately, hoping he would understand.

His eyes widened. He looked around the classroom before grabbing my arm and pulling me into his office. By this time, I was shaking slightly. He pushed me into a chair in front of his desk before kneeling in front of me, staring at me forehead. He inspected it for a moment before cursing under his breath. He straightened and took his own seat at his desk. He took in my trembling form and began shuffling around in his desk before pulling out a little blue potion and handing it to me. "Calming Drought," he muttered. I gulped it down and we sat in silence.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he spoke. "...You do realize what this probably means, don't you?" he said softly.

I gave a shaky nod. "It's barely noticeable, so maybe that means he's weak, but..."

"That doesn't mean he can't get stronger, right?" I nodded.

We both sat there, horribly pale and shaky, Calming Drought or not. We both knew that, should he return, our lives would be thrust into turmoil. Snape would return to his position as a spy and I would become the weapon of the wizarding world once more.

"Damnit!" I yelled. "This isn't fair! I mean, I knew this would probably happen, but...why did it have to? I understood when I came here that I would probably have to face this sooner or later, but I guess somewhere deep down, I thought, hoped, it wouldn't happen." I took a deep breath. The potion couldn't keep me calm enough. I had to settle down. This was not the time to be complaining. I sighed. "But what's done is done. I knew this time would come and I've accepted that."

Snape gave a curt nod. "That is...very honorable of you. I shall do my part as well."

"Look, Professor, you don't have to go back to being a spy. You shouldn't have to."

"Same goes for you, Harry." I looked up at him, stunned. "You could simply ignore this all; ignore his return. As far as anyone knows, you're an innocent little first year named Charles Evans. No one would expect you to fight."

"But..."

"But, you would feel guilty that you didn't do what you could. That is how I feel as well, though I admit that reluctantly."

I gave him a small smile. "I guess you're right."

He sneered, "Of course I am, foolish Gryffindor."

"Hey, I'm in your house now," I said, matching his sneer.

A look of curiously crossed the potion master's face. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask you about that. How did you end up in Slytherin?"

I smirked. "Well, the hat actually wanted to put me there the first time, but I had been told that the man who murdered my parents came from that house, so I wasn't exactly taken with the idea. So, I begged it to put me anywhere but there and it, reluctantly, put me in Gryffindor. However, I had always been slightly curious about what would have happened if I had stayed in Slytherin. This was my perfect chance to find out."

Snape let out a sigh of exasperation. "You really are full of surprises, aren't you, Potter?"

I smirked. "Of course. I am, after all, the Boy-Who-Just-Won't-Bloody-Die," I said. Talking to Snape can make you act oddly obnoxious and snooty.

Snape's sneer dropped. "We should tell Dumbledore."

_Ah. Dumbledore. It's been three days and I've yet to talk to him yet. Not really sure why. Maybe I was just afraid of going back to being the weapon of the wizarding world, which is exactly what would happen. Actually, that makes me wonder a bit…_

"Hey, Professor? How did Dumbledore react to my death?"

Snape's expression contorted a bit before answering, "He…took it rather well, actually. I thought he was just putting a front, but he never let it fall once if he was. After your death, he took control of things. He has the wizarding world wrapped around his fingers."

"You sound worried."

The Potion's Master sighed. "I am," he admitted. "I'm afraid of power going to the old man's head…or that it already has. But you have to understand. When you died, along with the Dark Lord, everything was chaotic. People were blaming Fudge for not telling them that You-Know-Who had been alive, not that he would have known since he'd returned the night he died. Fudge, reluctantly, looked to Albus for help. He was the one who convinced the people that this was a time for rejoice, not anger. They listened to everything he had to say. Did anything he asked…" he trailed off.

"So you think he's not going to be very happy of Voldie's return? I mean, that's pretty obvious I guess…who would be happy (excluding die-hard death eaters)? 'Course, there's also the people that will be angry that he lied to them about the guy being dead and all, but…it never occurred to me that Dumbledore cared what others thought of him, as long as they were safe."

Snape gave a small nod. "I thought that too."

---

Despite hesitations, we went to Dumbledore's office. I couldn't honestly believe that Dumbledore would let power go to his head. It just didn't seem to fit my vision of him. He had invited me to Hogwarts, away from the Dursley's. He had been understanding and kind, if a bit loopy. To me, he was nothing but a beacon of light…

We arrived at the statue and Snape, reluctantly, murmured 'lemon drops'. The door opened and we proceeded down the spiraling staircase. As we stepped into the office, I heard the small chirp of the phoenix as she saw us. I smiled to her and then looked at the twinkling eyes of the man at the desk in front of us.

"Hello Harry, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the two comfy red chairs in front of his ebony desk. I glanced at the professor, who gave me a nod, then preceded to sit down at the chair on the right. Snape sat to the left of me and we both looked up at the older wizard, who was still smiling.

"It is so good to see you, Harry."

"I'm Charles now," I said without hesitation. The old man's eyes sparkled.

"Ah, yes, of course. Charles Evans, correct?" I nodded. "Well, regardless, I am glad you have returned to us. I must admit, I had no idea that this would happen. If I had…"

"No, Professor, I'm glad no one knew. It was nice." That was all I could say. I don't know why, but I just didn't feel like going into detail about my life as Charles. Snape seemed to understand.

"Albus, we came to warn you. Potter's scar has begun to return."

It seemed that was enough. The twinkle in the man's eyes slipped away and they became dull. "And you believe that Voldemort is going to return because Harry's scar has?"

Snape and I gave another nod.

Much to our surprise, Dumbledore smiled, "Well, I assure you, there is nothing to worry about. We would know if he had returned, wouldn't we? There would be deaths and disappearances all over the papers. I don't believe there's anything to fret over." He stood up and walked over to us, gesturing us towards the door. "Now, now, I'm sure you two have better things to see to than talking to this old man, correct?"

We shrugged, exchanging dumbfounded expressions, and left the room. Dumbledore followed us until we reached the hallway and gave us one last smile before closing the door. However, his smile lacked that twinkle it usually did.

"That was…"

"Odd," I finished for Snape.

"Yes." Snape looked about, making sure no one was in the hallway, and then gazed back at me. "Perhaps he's right. Maybe we have nothing to worry about." His tone was almost hopeful. I hated that I'd be the one to crush that.

"You know that can't be true. Something's not right…whether it's Voldemort or Dumbledore." Snape sighed in defeat.

"I know. But for now, we'll just have to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Otherwise, we have nothing to go on but a scar…"

_He's right. I'm not one to be positive (not that he's exactly an optimist either), but we really have nothing to prove that Voldemort is coming back. There could be something else that my scar's reacting to. Maybe the magic around here? My magic? There's no telling. Might as well not freak out yet._

"I agree," I said. "Maybe we are just overreacting. No reason to send the wizarding world into a panic over a false alarm, right?" I gave a nervous laughed. Snape stayed silent. "Anyways, I should probably get back to the dorms…I kind of made an interesting scene at the end of DADA and I bet they're waiting for an explanation. Oh, do you know anything that can cover up this scar?"

Snape smirked. "Always causing trouble, Potter. I do wonder how long it will take before the whole school discovers your little secret." He waved his wand and I felt a tingling sensation on my forehead.

_Oh yeah, 'little secret' my arse._ "Git," I said with a sneer worthy of a Malfoy.

"Brat," he retorted before turning his back to me and returning to the dungeons, robes billowing with intimation. I chuckled. Some things would never change.

---

_**Next up, Ch.6:Murders and Nargles: Some afternoon tea goes terribly wrong...Alvis starts getting curious...and there's bloody murder! -gasp-  
**_

**_Review please! You know ya wanna...it encourages me to update sooner! -wink, wink-  
_**

_**+++Bubbyblack+++**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: Ugh...definitely not the best chapter ever...but it cpould be worse...sorry it took so long...had exams...they were brutal...also had to finish up pieces for AP Art (but I got a 98 for that class, so I'm happy enough). But now it's winter break! Which means...new chapter!  
_**

**_Moonlit Wave: Yes, it makes me a tad sad too...I honestly don't have much against Dumbles and all...but I had to make a choice...and it took me forever to decide...but I'll probably make him good in my next fic...and you're making good guesses...I won't tell you if they're right or not, but they are good ^_^_**

**_RRW: Ooooh...interesting ideas there....maybe that's it...maybe not...who knows....oh, wait, I guess I do...or do I?_**

**_ljdlb: Ah, yes, those Weasleys...well, first of all, Ginny will pop up...eventually...as for Lance and his bro...I dunno...one of the main themes I have in this story is irony...Harry, ironically, ends up in the same house with a Weasley once again. This Weasley, ironically, knows about the Marauders...and so on. A lot of the stuff where you have Harry thinking 'oh you've got to be kidding me' isn't just there because I can't think of anything more creative (though that certainly has a part in it, I won't deny)...it's there to make Harry extremely uncomfortable ^_^ okay, not really...I just have a softy spot for irony..._**

**_So...a lot of you think Voldy's either Lance or Alvis, huh? Hmmmm....Well, thanks for the reviews! I think the last chapter had the most so far...That kept my spirits up..._**

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_I was delighted to be able to answer promptly. "I don't know", I said.  
- Mark Twain_

Chapter 6: Murders and Nargles

"Explain. Now."

I closed the door to our room and walked over to my bed where I sat. I knew I had to explain, but I was just too tired to deal with it.

Alvis was having none of that. He marched over to my bed, arms crossed, and glared down at me. He tapped his foot, waiting.

"It was nothing, Alvis," I said as I laid down and rolled over so my back was facing him.

"Oh no you don't," he said as he plopped himself down next to me and japed me in the back. "It was not 'nothing'. If it was 'nothing', you wouldn't have run away like you were on fire."

"Where are Gunnar and Lance?" I asked in a poor effort to distract him. I knew it wouldn't work, but I had to try.

"Don't know, don't care." _Wow, when he wants something, he wants it now. Great. Just great. Note to self: don't EVER try to keep something from Alvis again...except this...this is an exception... _"Now tell me why you ran out of the DADA classroom? How do you know how to transfigure a book into a mirror already? Why were you so freaked over a scar?"

I stayed silent until his poking became slightly painful and overly annoying. "Look, it's nothing, alright? I suddenly felt sick and ran to the bathroom. I had learned how to transfigure things from all the books I've read and I was just curious as to what you were talking about."

Alvis stopped his prodding. I turned over to look at his expression. It wasn't one I liked: thoughtful.

"That doesn't explain why you freaked out. And where's the scar now?"

_Well, I guess Snape really did do something. I wonder what it was. Concealment charm? Glamour of some sort? Oh well, I don't particularly care, as long as it worked._

"Dunno, you must have imagined it," I said, turning back over to hide my nervousness from his thoughtful stare.

"No, I don't think I did," he mumbled quietly. He stood up and walked towards the door. "You're hiding something, Charles. I understand that we've only just met, but I hope you'll tell me…us at some point, okay? It's clearly troubling you and you never know, we might be able to help." The next thing I heard was the door being pulled open and then the sound of the hinges crying as it clicked shut.

"No, I don't think you guys can," I muttered to myself before pulling the covers over my head and making a poor attempt at napping.

---

The next few weeks were as normal as normal could be in a wizarding boarding school. I continued to excel in all my classes, Alvis following close behind me, and earning the Slytherins loads of points. We began our escapade of pranking the Gryffindors, who gladly pranked back. I don't think it was so much rivalry as it was just pure fun and more or less a challenge.

Alvis and I acted normally, but I could always see him watching me. Like he was waiting for me to slip up and give my secret away.

_Well, we just can't let that happen, now can we? Besides, I doubt he'd suspect what the truth is. He probably thinks I'm hiding something else…maybe he thinks I'm a vampire or a werewolf or something. I don't honestly care what he thinks as long as it's not the truth. _

We were currently in the middle of a very interesting Potions class (about as interesting as Professor Binns's lectures on the troll wars). Snape had decided to lecture on the importance of Polyjuice potions and the side effects of them when made poorly. He continuously glanced in my direction with a small smirk trying to break free from his eternal frown.

_Humph. Probably thinking about our incident second year. No doubt he heard about my friend's furry problem…I'm sure Poppy had to ask him for potions. Don't you feel all smug, eh Mr. Snape? Think you know something about me? Well, that's only the beginning of our numerous rule breaking's. Probably doesn't even know how many times I've gone walking around after hours or the dozens of times I've broken into the restricted area in the Library. _

I continued to reminisce until Lance nudged me. "Hey, you heard? Quidditch tryouts are next week," he whispered into my ear.

"First years aren't allowed," I murmured back. _Hypocrite._

"Aw, come on, if we're good enough, they might make an exception! I mean, Harry Potter was let onto the Gryffindor team, right?"

_Oh geez, not this again. _"He was famous," I replied. _No one ever let me forget it._

"So? If Potter could, then…"

"Weasley," Snape said with a glare, "if you would be so kind as to silence yourself while I'm speaking, then I will not be forced to give you a week's detention scrubbing the dungeons until your hands are raw."

Lance shut his mouth and gulped. Snape sneered.

"Smart move," he said before continuing his lecture.

_I guess since he's not working for Voldemort and having to put up with deatheater spawns, he can be equally mean to everyone. Oh joy. Then again, after having Fred and George in his classroom, I wouldn't be surprised if he just had a personal grudge against all Weasleys._

"Evans, I'd like to see you after class," Snape said as he dismissed the class. I gathered my things and walked over to his desk.

It had become customary that he did this once or twice a week to discuss any findings we might have found. So far, we had none. It seemed that Dumbledore might have been right; maybe Voldemort wasn't back. Regardless, we continued to meet, just as a precaution. Even though the headmaster didn't seem too worried, Snape and I knew better than to underestimate the Dark Lord. I had once thought Dumbledore was the same way.

"Find anything?" I asked as the last student left and the door closed.

"No, nothing," the Potion's Master replied as he sat himself down at his desk. "I suppose we're just…overreacting."

"Yeah, I guess…" We both knew that, somehow, we weren't. Something was wrong.

"So, thinking about joining the Quidditch team?" Snape asked with his trademark sneer.

"Hm, maybe, but it wouldn't be the same without creaming Malfoy, not that that ever took much effort," I answered smugly.

"Yes, well, since we no longer have the Malfoy heir to play as Seeker, perhaps we can have Mr. Evans try?"

I gapped at him. "Seriously?!"

His sneer widened. "What? You think I'm going to waste my chance at destroying Minerva's little team of lions? Despite your past, Potter, I can't help but admit to your skills as a Seeker. My Slytherins were surly beaten by those skills enough to be infuriatingly ingrained into my head."

I laughed. "Sure, sure, but McGonagall's gonna be seriously peeved if she finds out that you have Harry Potter's reincarnation playing for your team…and winning, of course."

Snape's grin widened. "I know. That's the point."

---

To make a long story short, I was immediately let onto the team after a long and earnest recommendation from the Potion's Master. When asked by my fellow Slytherins, I simply said that he had seen me during one of the first year flying classes and thought I had potential. After that, I'd switch the subject to something else. However, some were smarter than to fall for that. Three guesses who?

"Why are you and Professor Snape so close?" Alvis asked me as we walked to the Great Hall. They had started putting up the Halloween decorations and it was filled with bats and pumpkins and other seemingly scary things.

"He's the Head of Slytherin house," was all I said as we sat across from Gunnar and Lance who were plotting their next prank against the Gryffindors.

"Which explains why Lance and Gunnar are oh so friendly with him too," he said with dripping sarcasm.

I chuckled and pretty much ignored the question. Actually, I had been doing that a lot lately. Alvis wasn't the only one curious about my awesome Quidditch skills or my friendly relationship with our grumpy Potion's Master. In truth, I had become a mystery to a lot of the students. And to be quite frank, I liked it that way. I could be aloof and no one would think anything of it. They'd just think, "Oh, that's Charles for you," and go on their merry way. Perfect.

"Hey, don't forget, we've got tea with Padfoot and Moony this afternoon!" Lance all but yelled. I groaned internally.

_As much as I love Sirius and Remus, these afternoon tea things on Sundays are really a pain. Alvis spends the whole time talking to Remus and Sirius tells Gunnar and Lance about the numerous pranks he and my father pulled on Snape. And what do I get to do? Sit there and pretend to be enjoying myself, but keeping my trap shut. Only Merlin knows what dumb thing I'll say next to give myself away. But it's hard being around them without talking to them._

"Can't wait," I mumbled into my eggs. _Oh joyful fun. Not. _

---

"Wow, you're the new Seeker for the Slytherin team? That's…pretty amazing." Sirius smiled at me, but it looked strained.

"Thanks," I muttered as I began adding sugar to my tea. Lance, of course, had more to say.

"Isn't it awesome? He's like the next Harry Potter!" I cringed, but no one noticed. Lance turned to me, "You sure you're not related to Lily Evans?"

"No." _Lance, if you don't shut up, I'm throwing this tea at you._

"Aw, but it would be cool if you were. I wonder if you play the same way he does? Wish I could've met him. Sounds like a pretty cool guy."

Remus smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "He was. He was a…great person."

"Yeah," Sirius added in with his smile once again strained, "smart, just like James. Only he had Lily's eyes and wasn't nearly as rash and stupid as Prongs was." Remus and him chuckled softly.

_Okay, this is getting really uncomfortable. Seriously, I feel lousy enough to hang myself. Here they are, grieving over their best friend's son when, hello, he's right here! And he gets to watch it all. Oh fun._

"You knew Harry Potter?" _Lance, please, I beg of you, SHUT UP!_

The older men nodded. "I taught him DADA in his third year," Remus said. "And Sirius was, as I'm sure you know, his godfather. We didn't know him long, but…he was very close to us."

_Still is…literally. Merlin, Remus looks weepy. I'm starting to feel it too. Not good._

"Oh…I see. Sorry." _Finally, Lancelot gets the point! I thought I'd actually have to throw my teacup at him to make him shut up._

Gunnar, who was drinking milk instead of tea, spoke up. I wish he hadn't. "Hey, Charles, you've heard of Harry Potter, right?"

"I've heard enough," I said. "He survived the killing curse when he was only a baby and then was killed, along with Voldemort, during some tournament. He was also a Seeker for the Gryffindor team starting his first year," I added. There was a moment of silence.

_What? What did I do wrong? All that stuff was told to me by Lance! Where could I have gone wrong? Ugh, I really should just tape my mouth shut. _

"What?" I asked as the silence become unbearable.

"Charles, you said his name," Lance whispered.

"Who?"

"You-Know-Who."

_You know who? Who do I...oh, right. I see. Well, I supposed to be a naïve little muggleborn, right? _

"So? Why shouldn't I call him by his name? That is his name, right?"

"Yes, but who told you? No one would have had the guts to tell you," Alvis said. That thoughtful glint in his eyes was unnerving.

_Okay, you got me there, Sherlock. _

"Read it in a book." _Ha! Look at his face fall. Didn't think of that one did ya, Alvis?_

"Actually, why are we afraid to say his name?" Lance asked. "He's dead."

"Maybe they think he'll return. He did last time," I murmured. "But even if he did, there's no reason to fear a name."

"You talk as if you know he'll return." Alvis's statement got Remus and Sirius's attention. Their stares bore holes into me. Ouch.

"I don't," I said urgently. Too urgently. Bollocks. "It's just that they thought he had died once and he came back, right? Well, doesn't that mean he could come back again?"

"It's true," Sirius said. "He could. We don't even know how he came back the first time…we don't even know what happened that night."

_Okay, we're getting into that uncomfortable place again. Extremely uncomfortable! Can we please talk about something else besides Harry Potter? I knew I should have ditched today's tea. _

Gunnar, oh wonderful Gunnar, sensed the tension in the air. "So, did anyone see the paper this morning? Someone murdered some lady named Arabella Figg."

"What?!" _Oh, did I shout that? Of course I did._"I mean, who's that?" _Nice recovery Harry. Oh so smooth. Not. _

"Apparently a squib that lived across the street from the place Harry Potter's family lived," Gunnar said. "I think she was supposed to watch over him and report anything suspicious to Dumbledore."

_Oh yeah, bet that went well. Though I guess she wouldn't be able to see me sleeping in a cupboard from her window. _

"She was found dead in the middle of the street last night. Killing curse. They assume that it's some deatheater trying to start something up."

_Wow. I never knew Ms. Figg was actually watching over me. I just thought she was my creepy neighbor. Then again, she never really liked the Dursley's, but always loved when I had to spend the day with her (can't say I enjoyed it much though). I can't believe they killed her…and for something so pointless. Or maybe not._

"Were there any others?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, she was the only one. Why?"

"Just curious." I downed the rest of my tea and stood up, hoping I didn't look too anxious. "I'm sorry Professors, but I just remembered that I had a Potion's essay to finish. I'll see you Tuesday."

I ran out the door, ignoring Alvis's comment about not having a Potion's essay. That was the least of my worries.

---

_He's not in the dungeons, Great Hall, anywhere! Where the bloody Hell would the grumpy professor go?_

I trudged down the hallway, fuming. Snape was nowhere to be found. We finally had a lead and he was nowhere to be found.

"Ch-charles?"

I turned around at the voice. "Hey Nev," I said as I saw my old roommate and current Herbology teacher.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he approached me.

"Can't find Snape."

He frowned. "Snape? Why would you want to find him?"

"He knows." Neville's face paled.

"Y-you mean…"

I nodded. "And I need to tell him about a lead I found. Did you hear about Figg's murder?"

Neville bobbed his head. "Yeah, Dumbledore was talking about it. He's not too happy about it." _Of course not._ "Snape's probably with him," He added. His face had about as much colour as a sheet of paper. "You don't think…it's not…you think it's You-Know-Who, don't you?"

I gave him another nod. "Yeah, but I don't want to talk to Snape in front of Dumbledore. I'll wait until tomorrow after class."

"Why? What's wrong with…" he trailed off as another teacher entered the hall. She had long blonde wavy hair that swooshed back and forth down her back. Her robe was a multitude of colours and hanging from her ears were…radishes?

"Hello Neville," she said, he voice airy and distant.

"H-hi L-luna," Neville stuttered.

Luna smiled and looked down at me, but said nothing. She then sauntered down the hallway once more. "Beware the Nargles. They've been lurking around here lately." She strolled out of sight.

_...Nargles?_ I looked at Neville. "And who was that?"

Neville blushed, which was a startling contrast from the pale white he had been before. "T-that's Luna Lovegood, the Divination's teacher. S-she was a year behind us, in Ravenclaw."

I watched Neville for a moment. He was stuttering a lot more that normal, even for him, and his face was about as red as a tomato. I grinned my most evil Slytherin grin yet. "You fancy her, don't you?"

_Oh, that did it._ "N-no! Of course not!" I smirked. "Ah, c-come on Harry, I don't! R-really!"

"Sure you don't," I said, "it's the Nargles that are making your face beat red, right?"

"Harry…" Neville moaned in defeat. I laughed. It was nice to joke around like this.

"Sorry Nev, I'll stop…but maybe you should ask her out? I think she likes you."

"W-what?!" but I didn't answer. I just paced down the hall, laughing. I had almost forgotten everything. Almost.

---

_**Next up, Chapter 7:Revelations: Snape and harry have a chat, there are some unfortunate encounters with mystical beasts, and we delve into the mind of a certain animagus...oh, yeah, and someone almost dies...forgot that little part _  
**_

**_Review please! I might update sooner, ya know? Pretty please? -puppy dog eyes-  
_**

_**+++Bubbyblack+++**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: Okay...this chapter...hmm...lots of action (kind of)...but kinda corny...hopefully it's not nearly as corny as I think it is...ugh....-bangs head on desk- Yeah, you're all going to hate me after this chapter...yep, I can see it now...acutally, Luna told me so...'course see also mentioned something about me being chased by a herd of Heliopaths...._**_

_**Tabbycat1220: Not very long...at all...^_**_

_**Doro . neko: Oh, then you're going to hate me for this chapter...but you'll LOVE the next one.**_

_**Moonlit Wave: -laughs- I know, but Harry's not exactly a genius...he's only smarter than others because he read so many books...in his defense, he's not used to having to hide his true self...at the orphanage, he got to be his own, though slightly weird, self...**_

_**stonegnome1: I know! I keep trying to fit that in somewhere, but haven't been able to yet...since he doesn't have the key to the Potter vaults, it's not like he can get any money there, so...hmm...I'll probably have him go there eventually though ^_^**_

_**Sylkie: Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and say this....Neville is NOT Voldemort! XD As hilarious as that would be, I'm afraid it's not the case...Nev's just reeeaaaly nervous...-laughs- But it IS a funny thought XD**_

_**Mother of Tears: 'Cause they're their number one fans of course! I dunno...since they aren't the normal definition of the snakes, I guess they just like 'em...besides, if your dead best friend's dead son's clone O.o just popped up out of no where, wouldn't you, subconsciously, wanna keep him close? Just my thoughts...as for what those Marausders are thinking...read this chapter. :D**_

_**Absentminded Dreamer 1310: Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too! And, naturally, a very Happy New Year (that will, hopefully, be supported by chapter 8...^_)**_

_**And to all my other reviewers, MERRY CHRISTMAS and/or HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Thank you soooo much! With the utmost pleasure, I present to you...chapter 7!**_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_"Confidence comes only when you embrace your imperfections. When you accept the person that you are, others will too." _

_-Vincent D. Alcaras_

Chapter 7: Revelations

"Dumbledore thinks it's just a bunch of deatheaters, doesn't he?" I sat down in Snape's classroom and slumped into the chair.

"Yes. I swear, the lemon drops have finally rotted his brain out," Snape growled as he sat down across from me. "Can't he see that there's something wrong? It wasn't uncommon for there to be murders every now and then by past deatheaters, but this..."

"What?" _This was the first that I'd heard of this._

Snape sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That's what worried me. They have been so quiet for months…it doesn't make any sense. Unless they've been told to stop."

_By the psychopath, no doubt. _"So what do we do?"

"Nothing yet," Snape said. "We don't have proof…"

I stood up. "Don't have proof?! So, what, we wait for him to kill off a dozen or so more people or leave us a little memo saying, 'Oh yeah, by the way, I'm back. Love, Voldemort'?!"

"Potter, calm down."

"How can you say that?" I yelled, swinging my arms in the air. "People are dying! Dying because of me! Ms. Figg is dead just because she lived by me!"

"Potter," Snape said, his tone remaining even as mine rose, "she worked for Dumbledore. It's just as much his fault as it is yours."

I slowly began to sink back into my seat. "But it's still…"

"No, Potter, it is not. It is a consequence of others stupidity, gullibility, and cruelty."

"But…"

"Potter, shut up!" I froze and clamped my mouth closed. "Thank you. Now, we can not do anything yet. We have no support. We need more proof that this is more than a deatheater revolt. Then we can take more action," he finished.

_I know he's right, but…what if he goes after my old friends? I don't want them to die. Okay, I don't really want anyone to die. But I know Snape's right…no one will believe that he's returned with just one odd murder. And considering that murder isn't too uncommon, well…this kinda sucks. _

"Fine," I said, grudgingly. I began to march towards the door when Snape's voice stopped me.

"Potter, when do you plan to tell the werewolf and the mutt?"

I shrugged, trying to attempt a calm façade at the random question he'd plucked from thin air. "Wasn't planning on it. I don't want any more people involved than already are."

"They would rather know," Snape pushed. "As must as I hate to admit it, they would be a good addition to our side."

I ignored him and walked out into the hallway.

_I should, but I shouldn't. I want to, but then again I don't. They're happy now and they're safe. They'd be happier knowing, but then they'd be unsafe. For now, they're happy and content with how life is. My death is in the past, right? Besides, I might end up dying again anyways and then they'd have to deal with it all over again…_

I sighed. Today was just not my day. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep…so I did.

---

"Think we should dye their hair green?" Gunnar asked as we entered the Great Hall for breakfast that Saturday morning.

Almost a week had gone by and so far, no more deaths. While it was clearly a good thing, it also meant no more leads on the more than likely return of Voldemort.

Lance shook his head. "Nah, it's been done. How about their skin?"

"Ha! They'd look like Martians!"

We laughed at the idea of a bunch of Gryffindor Martians running around the school, fuming.

"We could add some nice antennas too," I added. We laughed harder.

"Hey, you think Professor Black might know how to do it?"

"I don't know Gunnar, you think he'd help us prank Gryffindors?" Alvis said as we sat down at the Slytherin table.

"He might…" Gunnar looked up at the head table. "Hey, where's Professor Lupin?"

_Tomorrow's the full moon. He's probably sick._ "Probably sleeping in. Or maybe he's just not hungry," I said as I grabbed a piece of toast.

_How is it that no one knows about Remus's lycanthropy? I thought he had been discovered in my third year? Maybe it wasn't nearly as big a deal as we had thought. Or maybe everyone's forgotten. Oh well, it's better that way I guess. _

Things had become routine after a while. Eat, go to classes, talk to Snape about what hasn't happened, sleep, then do it all over again. As nice as it was, waiting was unbearable. Something was wrong. Did I have proof? Not really. It was an instinct. Besides, I wasn't not allowed to go through a year at Hogwarts peacefully.

"So, what's on the schedule for today?" I asked.

Gunnar and Lance looked at each other before turning back to me and saying, "Martians."

I sighed. Guess we were pranking today. Nice. We left the Great Hall and headed to the library to find a spell or potion that would change the receiver's skin colour. Preferably turning it a nice radioactive green. After spending an hour there without success, we decided to leave (and considering Lance and Gunnar had the attention span of chipmunks, that was pretty good) and go in search of our DADA professors. It was no use trying to persuade them to do otherwise.

"You think they'd be annoyed with us Slytherins constantly pestering them," I muttered.

"Nah, you know they love us," Lance said with a grin.

"They're always happy to see us. Besides, I'm worried about Professor Lupin." Alvis frowned. I really hope he wasn't thinking too much.

We arrived at the DADA room and pushed the door open.

"Padfoot?" Lance called as we walked in. He stepped out in front of us. The room appeared empty until we heard slight rustling in the back room. However, that was ignored when we heard a bang to our left. We looked over and saw a trunk moving about as if something were thrashing around inside. Lance walked up to it. "Hey, what's in…"

Sirius and Remus ran into the room, the latter looking deathly pale. Sirius's eyes widened.

"No, Lance, stay away from…" But it was too late. The trunk burst open, only feet away from Lance.

The boy looked back at the container. Fear slowly etched into his face as the thing crawled out of the trunk. It was covered in grey fur and stood between seven and eight feet tall. It let out a threatening growl from it's muzzle as it clenched it's clawed paws and dug them into the floorboards.

A werewolf.

Lance let out a bloodcurdling scream as he fell backwards away from the beast. It sniffed the air and glared at its target before slowly stalking it.

Before I knew it, I had run in front of the beast, shielding my friend. Call it stupidity; call it hero's instincts, whatever. I was doing it. Why? I have no idea. Maybe I didn't like the thought of my new friend being torn to shreds?

However, the beast did something I hadn't expected. While I had assumed it would just attack me instead (since I was kind of in its way), it did something else. It changed, morphed. Not a moment later was I shielding Lance from a werewolf, but rather a dementor. Its black, deteriorating cloak billowed around it as its mouth opened wide and breathed me in. I felt a chill rush through my bones as all the happiness had left me. There were screams, screams I hadn't heard in so long. Then everything went black.

---

"Charles? Charles, wake up."

I blinked.

_Woah, where am I? What just happened? Oh crap, I'm back where I started, aren't I? No, someone just called me Charles. Sure, that's not quite right, but it's not exactly a step back either. Now then, what just happened? Hm. Oh right, there was a werewolf, then a dementor… ah. Neither._

"Charles?" Remus called quietly again. Déjà vu.

"Hi," I said, sitting up. He gave me a small, weak smile before handing me a piece of chocolate. Same ol' Lupin. "Thanks."

I looked around the room. Gunnar was with Lance, who was shivering madly while trying to be comforted by Sirius. Alvis was next to Remus on my left. Remus stared sadly at Lance.

"He'll be okay," I said, though I knew that wasn't why he was sad. No, more like miserable.

"I'm very sorry," Remus began. "We had brought it in for the third years…"

"A boggart?" Remus nodded. It was no longer a surprise to anyone that I was far too knowledgeable for a first year. That was one thing to be thankful for. "It's fine. No…real harm done," I said with a hesitant glance towards Lance. At least he was calming down a bit.

"Why are you afraid of dementors?" Remus asked.

…_.bloody hell, I did it again. Okay, this time wasn't really my fault…not really. But how am I gonna get out of this one? _

"Read about them in a book. They seemed pretty terrifying. I'd say I was right about that." _Nice lie, Harry. _

Remus chuckled feebly. "They are, trust me. Though Sirius would know better than I."

"Rem, you should go rest," Sirius said as he stood up and placed a reassuring hand on Lance's shoulder. Remus nodded and left for the back room. Sirius let out a long breath. "Lance, why don't you go back to your dorms? Gunnar, Alvis, you go with him." He glanced over at me. "Charles, I'd like a quick word with you."

_Uh oh. That doesn't sound good. _

Alvis and Gunnar led Lance out of the classroom. Sirius, who looked almost as exhausted as Remus, plopped down in one of the desks. I took the one next to his silently and waited for him to speak.

"Sorry about all that," he said finally. "It's my fault. I forgot to lock the trunk this morning when…"

"It's okay Professor," I interrupted, "I wasn't hurt and Lance will be fine. You know how he is. Give him an hour and he'll be up and about plotting the next practical joke to play on the Gryffindors."

He smiled. "Yes, I hope so." There was an awkward pause before he stood up and patted me on the back. "Okay, that was…um, all I had to say, really. Sorry it ruined your evening."

I stood. "No, it's fine, really. I'm fine. Have a good day, sir." I gave him a nod before leaving the room.

---Sirius's POV---

I was in denial.

_No. I refuse to even consider it. I know the similarities are there, but so is the truth. Harry is dead. James Potter's son is with him now, with Lily. I wish I hadn't failed James and Lily; I have to face the truth. Harry is gone. Forever. This child is not him, cannot be him. He may have Lily's eyes and James's unmanageable hair and bad eyesight, but he is not Harry. He may even rush out in danger for his friends, just like the Harry I knew, but that doesn't mean that this is him…or the fact that he's afraid of dementors… _

I sighed. I looked over at Remus. The man was currently sitting in a fluffy red chair in front of the fire, eyes dull and face pallid.

"Rem, what are you thinking?" I asked, approaching him cautiously as I took a seat on the arm of his chair.

"He's scared of me, Siri," the man murmured.

I gave him a small pat on the shoulder. "No he's not. No one could ever be scared of you. He's scared of werewolves, yes, but you're not just a werewolf. You're Remus, who'd never harm a fly."

"You won't be thinking that tomorrow night."

The full moon. Remus's worst fear. Even with the potion Severus gave him every month that allowed him to retain his mind, he still felt like a loathsome monster. No matter how many times I tried to convince him otherwise, he'd never listen.

"Rem, to me, you'll always be about as harmless as a bunny."

"A bunny with rabies."

I sighed. There was no getting through that werewolf's thick skull. "Remus, you didn't decide to be a werewolf. It just happened; it was forced on you. No one blames you for it."

"I shouldn't be here," he mumbled, putting his head into his hands. "I'm putting the students in danger."

_Typical Remus._ I shifted and slipped an arm around the man's shoulders. "No, you're not. As long as you take your potion, then you're no more wolf than I am."

Remus smiled. "That's not saying much," he joked. I stuck out my tongue, but smiled anyways. "So, what did you think of…"

"Charles?" He nodded. "I'm ignoring all similarities."

Remus frowned. "But, Sirius, you have to see the resemblance. The way he acts sometimes, his appearance, the boggart…"

"I know, Remus, I know, but…what would it mean?"

"Reincarnation?"

_That could make sense._ "But does he remember anything? Us?"

Remus scrunched up his face, then shook his head. "No, probably not. It's usually only the soul that's the same, not the mind."

"Or the body. Which means that his appearance and the boggart being a dementor would have nothing to do with it." Remus heaved a sigh of defeat.

"You're right. Maybe we're thinking into this too much. We're being too…hopeful."

---Harry/Charles's POV---

"Hey Lance, you okay?" I asked when I saw the boy.

"Yeah," he mumbled. When I returned to the dorms, Lance was sitting on his bed, knees under his chin, with Gunnar and Alvis on either side of him. He looked a little pale, but otherwise relatively okay. "Sorry 'bout that, mate."

"What are you sorry about?"

The redhead shifted a little in his seat and looked away from me. "You know, for freaking out and having to have you save me..."

"Um, Lance, in case you have forgotten, I passed out."

"Yeah, but you still saved me from that...thing. Thanks."

"I didn't do anything," I urged.

Lance smiled. "Take some gratitude, would ya?"

I chuckled. "Fine, fine, you're welcome." I sat down on the bed next to Alvis. "So...do you want to talk about it or would you rather not?"_ Not that I'm one to talk.  
_  
Lance was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I dunno, there's not really anything to say. I had heard terrible stories about werewolves when growing up and had loads of nightmares. I guess I'm just scared stiff of them. I would never want to lose control of my body, even if it was just for one night a month."

_So that's what it is. He's not afraid of werewolves, but of loosing control of himself, like a werewolf does. That's...actually a good fear to have...and more mature than I would have thought. Plus, even if he did find out about Remus, he probably wouldn't be afraid of him. Problem is, Remus doesn't know that. Bollocks. Oh well, I'll tell him tomorrow...somehow..._

So, that morning, the morning after the full moon, I woke up before anyone else (which, since it was a Sunday, meant that no one would wake up before nine or ten) and walked down to the DADA classroom. I knew Remus wouldn't be up to having breakfast and would probably be in a terrible mood.

_Maybe this will cheer him up after such a night. Though I guess it shouldn't be nearly as bad with the Wolfsbane Potion, but I've read that the transformation is more painful than anything. Poor Remus. But maybe if he found out that Lance wouldn't hate him for what he was, then maybe that would cheer him up._

I found the door and knocked on it.

"Come in," a hoarse voice said. I grabbed the rusted doorknob and turned it. The door clicked open and I walked in. Remus was sitting at the desk in front of the classroom looking sicker than yesterday and even more tired. Why hadn't he just slept through the day?

"Hello, Professor."

Remus looked somewhat surprised to see me, but made his face smile nonetheless. "Charles, what brings you here so early? Sirius is in the Great Hall if you…"

I shook my head. "No, it's about yesterday." I sat in a desk at the front and continued, "I just wanted to explain why Lance freaked out so you and Professor Black don't feel so bad about the whole situation."

"Yes, Sirius did feel rather bad about it. Are you sure you're okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, of course!" I said urgently. "I'm fine, really."

Remus sighed. "Good. That's very good." He seemed like he wanted to say something else. He let out another sigh. "Would you like some tea, Charles?"

I was about to decline when my stomach made a loud grumble. Remus chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes." He grabbed his wand and flicked it towards a metal tray that I assumed had been left by one of the house elves. Instead of coming to us, as I suppose Remus had meant for it to do, it exploded into tiny dust particles, causing both of us to cough.

"Sorry Charles," Remus said before another fit of hacking hit him. I had read that werewolves who were also wizards often had issues controlling their magic the days before and after the full moon. I guess this was a perfect example…

Thud.

I turned around and was shocked to find Remus on the ground convulsing.

"P-professor? Remus?" I walked over to him hesitantly and kneeled down next to him.

_Oh Merlin, what's wrong? The dust has almost cleared, but he looks like he can't breath! What's wrong, what's wrong! Wait…what was that tray made of?_

I did a scan with my wand that calculated the minerals in the air and, sure enough, I found it.

Silver.

---

_-bangs head on desk- gosh, I think I made this chapter too…corny? Horrid? –sigh- Anyhwho, yeah, I know, you all want to kill me for what I'm doing to poor Remy, but trust me, it's all good in the end! _

_Oh, and sorry 'bout the cliffie…maybe if you all review, I'll post the next chapter sooner, hmm? –wink, wink-_

_Next Chapter: Chapter 8: Family Reunion! Lots of questions, answers, yelling, and eventually...a happy little reunion...  
_

_Happy Holidays!_

_+++Buddyblack+++_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

_**Author's Note: I am so so sooo sorry this took so long to update. I had an evil Physics project to do (I had to make a PowerPoint that was AT LEAST 40 slides...) and now I'm currently working on a another project about Marianne Moore...ugh...Anywho, this chapter is rather...eh...but it's what you guys have been waiting for!...somewhat...  
**_

_**RRW: You are most certainly correct! ^_^ *hands RRW a cookie***_

_**Tabbycat1220: EEP! Not the cliffy stick! Anything but that! This chapter's not...THAT much of a cliffy...I think...**_

_**Doro . neko: Heh heh...you don't know how close you are to 'killing' they get...well, not really...but Siri gets a bit...just read this chapter. ^_^ And don't worry about Remy...he'll be VERY happy by the end of this chapter.**_

_**Mother of Tears: Yeah...dust...well, I wanted it to be original...and I've never heard of a werewolf getting sick from silver particles in any stories I've read, so...heh heh..._**_

_**JWOHPfan: Yay! Thanks for thinking it neither corny nor horrid! Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter...**_

_**MadlyInLoveWithEdwardCullen: Heh heh, actually...well, read the chapter, kay? P.S. I love Edward too ^_^ **_

_**BLG: I will try my best to keep it as humourous as possible (without crossing into the parody category, of course). And yeah, I'd probably be stuck thinking "...Wait...what?" But I figure that Betsy's just kinda weird and really into stuff like that and Remus....well...he's just really smart...reads too much, yatta yatta... **_

_**LadyKaos: Don't worry, I love questions! ^_^ And this is a 'reincarnation' fic. Harry was reborn...in a sense...eh, it'll be explained better later on...hopefully...**_

_**fraewyn: No, I'm afraid the sister isn't much of a character...only thing that relates is that she's the wife of Oliver...I doubt she'll ever actually show up...**_

_**As always, THANK YOU for the reviews! I had so many! ('course, I did leave that last one at a cliffie...heh heh...sorry 'bout that...) **_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_ "If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error."  
_

_~John Kenneth Galbraith_

Chapter 8: Family Reunion

_Silver! A silver tray! Why did it have to be a bloody silver tray? What were those house elves thinking? Okay, they probably didn't know, but still…silver? This is just not my week... _

I made a sharp turn at the corner and raced down the empty hallway. I felt bad about leaving Remus, but I had no idea what to do. He needed help. And fast. Where was I going to get this help? A place I would most likely later regret.

I burst into the Great Hall and ran to the head table. I ignored the odd looks I received from the students, my friends included, and rushed up to where Sirius and Snape were sitting on the right.

"S-sirius," I gasped as I tried to catch my breath, "W-we need to help Remus!" I yelled frantically.

Sirius jerked up. "W-what?" he stuttered.

"Remus! He swallowed silver! Or silver particles! Whatever! He's in the DADA room convulsing on the ground! You know what silver could do to him, right? He needs help!"

_Why are you just sitting there and staring at me? Go help you're friend, you fool! _

Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, he got the point. He stood up and sprinted around the table and out of the Hall. I turned to Snape. He gave me a brief nod and together we dashed from the Hall after Sirius.

---

When I had arrived at the DADA room right behind Sirius, Snape had disappeared along the way.

_Maybe he went to go get some potions or something? Merlin, I hope so…_

"Remus…" Sirius kneeled down next to the trembling man with anguish filled eyes. I followed suit and stooped down next to him.

"Come on," I said gently, "let's get him to Madam Pomfrey. She'll probably be able to do something. It's not like he swallowed pure silver, just some dust particles. He should be okay…for a while."

_I don't want to lie to Sirius. If he doesn't get help in a few hours, it might be too late. But for now, it should be safe to move him. I just hope Poppy or Snape have something that can get the silver out of his system. _

Sirius flicked his wand and Remus rose off the floor. Together, we rushed towards the Infirmary, Remus floating along behind.

"Poppy," Sirius called as we released Remus's now too still body onto one of the empty beds. Madam Pomfrey came bustling out.

"What is all the noise…" She stopped as she took in the sight of the very pale man and our frantic expressions. "Remus! Oh dear, what happened?"

"He swallowed silver," I told her. "We need something to get it out of his system before…" I was interrupted by Snape, who burst into the room, robes billowing fiercely, with a grey potion secure in his hand. I pointed to where Remus was laying. He bustled over and shoved the liquid filled capsule at Sirius. Sirius grasped it and, too worried to actually question it, poured the murky fluid down into the werewolf's mouth and then proceeded to rub the man's throat until he swallowed it.

"It will deteriorate any silver in his body," Snape said smugly with sneer, but there was a small hint of worry in his eyes. A very, very small hint. "If he does not wake up within the hour, come find me." On that note, he turned on his heel and left the room.

Then all was silent. Poppy sighed and retreated back to her office. Sirius sat down next to Remus and looked up at me.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Don't," I said, shaking my head. "It was nothing, really. Anyone would have done the same." I didn't want to leave, but I figured I should leave before the questions started flying.

"Um…Charles?"

_Too late. Crud._

"Sirius, now's not a good time. Remus…"

"Is sleeping." He glanced down at the man for a moment before returning his gaze to me. "How did you know?" he asked. "And why are you calling us by are first names?"

"Sorry, Professor," I muttered. My shoes seemed to be the most interesting things in the room, as I couldn't lift my gaze from them.

Sirius growled. "You know I don't care about that. Who are you? Really?"

I didn't say anything. Hell, I couldn't even think. This was the question I had been waiting for, the question I had been fearing all the past weeks. It was a bad time for my mind to be taking a vacation. I had finally dug my hole too deep. Crawling out was no longer an option. So, now what? Was I supposed to keep digging until I reached New Zealand or something?

"You know Remus is a werewolf," Sirius stated.

I nodded. "Yes." There was no use denying that.

"Lance didn't know that. Did Erol tell you?"

_Woah, Erol knows?_ "No," I replied. _I don't want to get him in trouble…_

"How did you find out?" His gaze burned as he stared me down. It was like he saw straight through me. Actually, it might have been easier if he did.

I shrugged.

"You knew all along." _It wasn't a question. _"Did you know I was an Animagus too?"

_Not gonna say it. Nope nope nope. _

"You're not registered." I had known McGonagall was, so it was perfectly safe for me to state. Though I don't know why I even bothered.

He nodded. "No, I'm not. I learned, along with two others, during school and in our fifth year we achieved it." He grinned. "I take the form of a stag."

"No, that was…" I clamped my hand over my mouth.

_Well, guess I'm going to New Zealand. I fell for that one completely. Not only did I tell him I knew he wasn't a stag, but I also just told him that I knew who was…which only a handful of people do. And I have had contact with none of them. Oh bloody Hell. I am royally screwed. _

"What's going on?" a scraggly voice asked.

Sirius and I turned to look at the slightly dazed Remus sitting up in his bed. I hadn't even noticed he'd moved.

"You swallowed some silver and we took you here. Snape got a potion that would deteriorate the silver, so you should be fine now," Sirius assured, all attention on his friend. I began to slowly shift towards the exit.

Remus nodded and looked towards me. His eyes widened. "D-does he…"

"He already knew, Rem," Sirius interrupted. His gaze returned to mine, flaring once more. "And now he's going to explain exactly why and how he knows so much, right Mr. Evans?" I did not like the mocking tone he used on that last part.

"Sirius, he could have just…"

"No, Remus, he knew I was an Animagus and he knows James was a stag."

Remus gapped. "But how…"

I panicked. I turned to leave, but Sirius grabbed me roughly by the arm and pulled me back. Then he grasped my shoulders and slammed me against the wall.

"Sirius!" Remus gasped.

But the man was already lost. "How dare you! I don't know who you are, but how dare you come here and impersonate my godson! That's just sick! He died in a battle that never should have taken place! He was only fourteen! And you coming here, mocking him, is just sick! Now, who the Hell do you think you are? Show yourself! Now!"

By the end of his speech, I was trembling.

_Oh Merlin, Sirius has lost it! If I don't tell him the truth, he'll kill me…or worse. So, what, he thinks I'm someone impersonating Harry? Why? Some sick joke? Okay, I can understand why he'd be angry, I'd be a little pissed too. Problem is, he's wrong and my shoulders are really starting to hurt. Gotta think, gotta think…oh._

"Sirius, let him go, you're overreacting…"

"No, I'm not! Who ever the hell this is deserves to be thrown into a pile of starving lions or raccoons with rabbis or…"

"Snuffles."

Sirius stopped yelling to Remus and jerked his head to look at me. "What?" he snapped.

I repeated myself. "Snuffles."

Now he was the one gapping. Without thinking, he released me and I slipped to the stone floor.

"How would you…only they could have…you must have met…"

"No, I have not yet met…them." I didn't want to say their names. I hated not being able to see them, to talk to them, and speaking of them just made it worse.

"Then how would you…"

I stood up and moved to the bed next to Remus's and plopped down. With my head in my hands, I murmured, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Remus inquired. "So you know these things, but don't know how?"

"Well, no, not really…" Then, it all came pouring out. "I'm sorry," I began. "I was just trying to protect you guys. Betsy, Neville, and Snape already know, they're already in danger. I didn't know if he would find me and use anyone who knew against me or torture them or…"

"Wait, who are you talking about?" Sirius asked. I was glad his tone was more confused and frustrated than furious like before. However, his clueless-ness wasn't quite as helpful.

"Voldemort," I blurted out. "If he's back, then he might try to find me. He might come to the same conclusion I have. No, he WILL. Damnit!" I shouted into my hands. "I should never have come back to Hogwarts. This will be the first place he looks." Then it dawned on me. "Oh Merlin, what if he's already here? What if he was one of the first years? But wouldn't he have been put in Slytherin…No! No no no! None of them could possibly be Riddle! I would know, wouldn't I? No no no…"

"Charles?" Remus tried, but I was too lost in my rambling to hear.

"He could be here, anywhere! Plotting, waiting, killing! And it's all my fault, my fault…Ms. Figg! She died and it was my fault! Damn Peter Pettigrew! I should never have let him near me! I should have struggled more! I should have…"

"What did Peter do to you?" Sirius demanded. He practically spit Peter's name out like it were filth in his mouth.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry…" Oh yeah, I had finally lost it. Not only was I babbling, but now I was blubbering. "My blood…it brought him back…V-voldemort…my blood…" Okay, apparently I was going into a panic attack. Not good.

"Calm down, Charles," Remus tried again. "Please, explain to us…"

"I'm not Charles!" I shouted. "I never was Charles! Charles Evans doesn't bloody exist!"

Sirius and Remus sat in front of me, frozen, stunned.

"You don't mean…" but Sirius couldn't finish it. It couldn't be possible.

I panicked again. "I'm sorry!" I shouted as I made a beeline for the door. But they were having none of that.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted. I froze. "You're really Harry?"

I lost control of my legs and slipped to the floor. I tucked my knees under my chin in the protective way I had always done.

_Why the bloody hell am I acting like this? I guess 'cause these two are some of the last people I'd ever want to be tortured because of me, but still! I'm a total psychotic wreck here! Geez, send me to St. Mungos already. No, they probably want to send me to Azkaban. At least anyone who knows of me there would probably deserve to be tortured. Merlin, they must be angry. Now that they know, they're in danger. I can't believe Neville and Betsy didn't abandon me. And Snape! I figured he would have wanted to kill me. But they didn't. Maybe…_

I hadn't noticed when someone approached me from behind. I hadn't even been aware of the presence until they had crouched down and slipped their arms around my trembling shoulders.

I blinked. _What was going on? Was I being forgiven? _

"Harry," Sirius's voice said against my hair, "what's wrong?" His voice was soothing. It wasn't angry like I had assumed it would be. It was oddly…parental sounding. Well, he was my godfather, after all.

"W-what's wrong?" I repeated. "I'm putting you two in danger! Aren't you angry with me? Disgusted?"

Sirius shifted me around so that I could face him. Hesitantly, I looked up at his eyes.

"Why would we be disgusted, Harry? We're just glad that you're back, that's all. Nothing else matters."

Remus, who was smiling behind Sirius, nodded in agreement. "We'd much rather have you than living a 'safe life' as you might call it."

I sniffed. _Merlin, this getting emotional. Oh well, they're like family to me. It can get as emotional as it bloody well wants to!_ "Really?" I asked.

Sirius grinned. I think it was the first time I had ever really seen him smile in a long time. He couldn't help himself. He squeezed the daylights out of me.

"Of course!" He stood up, bringing me with him. My feet dangled in defeat as he carried me over to where Remus was still laying. The werewolf still looked deathly pale. He sat down, me in his lap, next to Remus. "We'd do anything for you, Harry, you should know that!"

_Wow…maybe I was overreacting before. Okay, no maybe, I was defiantly overreacting. I mean, I'm sitting in Sirius's lap like his own son…and he has me in a deadlock hug. And Remus…I've never seen the man smile so brightly, even though he still looks pretty sickly. So much for being angry with me. _

"And you're so tiny! So much smaller than you were in your third year! But still adorable! And the exact replica of James!"

"Except for my eyes," I murmured with a small grin. Sirius squeezed me.

"Harry," Remus interrupted our snuggle fest. "Would you mind explaining…well, how all of this happened?"

_Oh yeah, might want to explain that...not that I honestly know._ "Well, when I was four, or when Charles was four, I hit my head on ball or something. Somehow, it jogged my memories and I remembered everything from my…uh…previous life."

"So, you're not really Harry, but his reincarnation?" Sirius asked, his hold on me loosening slightly. I shook my head.

"No. At first, that's what Betsy and I had thought…"

"Betsy knows?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, she was the nurse at the orphanage I was staying at, remember? She was there when I woke up with my memories in tact. Plus, she knew all about the wizarding world already since her sister married Oliver Woods."

Remus chuckled a bit. "Okay, so what did you two come up with?"

"We had thought it was reincarnation at first, but that only revives the soul, right? Not the body, which I clearly still have, nor the memories. So we came to the conclusion that it was something else…but I have no idea what…"

Remus hummed in thoughtfulness as Sirius squeezed me tighter. "What happened…that night?" Remus asked cautiously, unsure if he should venture into that account or not.

I sighed and began my long recount of that oh so fateful night. "Cedric and I reached the cup and grabbed it together. It took us to some graveyard with a grim reaper statue in the middle. It was the tomb of Voldemort's father. When we arrived, Pettigrew appeared and bound me to the statue. I yelled at Cedric to grab the portkey and get help. It was the only way to keep Pettigrew from killing him…"

"Yes," Sirius piped in, "Diggory appeared and started rambling about a graveyard and some odd man, Peter I guess, and how we had to save you…" he trailed off.

"What happened after Diggory left?" Remus asked.

I continued. "Well…Pettigrew dropped Riddle's bone into a cauldron and then…cut off…his own hand and dropped it into the boiling mess. Then he slit my wrist and dropped some of my blood into the potion." I looked away, ashamed that I had taken part in the reviving of the Dark Lord. "Then he dropped this…thing into it…and before I knew it, Voldemort was there in front of me." Sirius hugged me harder as I told the last part. "Then we battled and…well, there was this bright light and then…then I woke up a four-year-old at some muggle orphanage four years later, very confused and with a bad headache."

I went silent and no one said anything for a moment, our minds wondering.

"Why do you think he's back?" Remus asked.

"My…my scar came back," I muttered. "Snape put some charm on it so no one would see it. We just assumed that if it was returning, than…"

"Voldemort is getting stronger," Sirius finished. I nodded.

"But, besides Arabella's death, there hasn't been anything suggesting that he's returned," Remus said, but more to himself than anyone else.

"I know, that's the problem. Snape and I have…"

"Wait," Sirius butted in, "what's Snivellus got to do with any of this? Why does he know?"

"Well…he found out the first day I came back and he made me explain everything. He agrees that Voldemort will probably return too, but we're having trouble convincing Dumbledore…"

"The 'supposedly' reformed death eater has been 'theoretically' helping you this whole time? What's the greasy git up to?"

"Sirius, calm down. You know Severus is on the light side now. He has been for years."

Sirius grunted. "Yeah, well…still don't trust him."

"You know, he's not that bad," I said, slightly surprised by my own words.

Remus nodded. "No, he isn't. So, Harry, what's this about Dumbledore?"

---

_**-laughs- Okay, I liked some of this chapter...but then some of it was kinda...eh...I dunno...**_

_**Originally, Harry wasn't' digging a hole to New Zealand, but China (like the old phrase), but then I got curious and looked on a globe to see what was opposite of Scotland if you were to actually dig a hole through the Earth...and I found New Zealand!**_

_**Also, not sure if Harry calls Sirius 'Snuffles' in his letters in the fourth or fifth book, but whatever...this is fanfiction, so I can do that ^_^**_

_**Sorry for the whole self-loathing Harry...but he needs some angst, right? -sigh- I dunno...so, yeah, this chapter had some gooey family moments and such...but the secret is finally out...somewhat!**_

_**Next: Chapter 9: In Which Someone Has a Mental Breakdown – Harry does some more explaining and a certain character makes an appearance! -gasp- And then...well...it's all just a little to much for a certain someone...(three guesses who?)**_

_**Also, I'm writing a stroy for one of my classes that takes place in Russia between 1917 and 1918. If you know anything about their customs, foods, etc. durng that time period PLEASE TELL ME (I already know the history...)! It would help a lot! And anything you know about Marianne Moore...heh heh...**_

_**Please Review! PLEEEEEAAAASE! It brings a bit of joy to my dull, studious life...  
**_

_**+++Buddyblack+++**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: Once again, soooooooooooooooooo sorry this took so long...I've had so much homework! And there's been some difficulty at home that I won't exactly go into...but at any rate, I have not given up on this story! Just got into a bit of a rut...my bad...Anywho, this chapter is...hmm....overdramatic...sorry 'bout that....but I just sorta went crazy with it, ya know (literally...) Despite my insanity, PLEASE ENJOY! Sorry if it suck....I'm outta practice T_T  
**_

_**JWOHPfan: And help against anything else that comes along -hint, hint-**_

_**RRW: Well, at the moment, they still kind of trust Dumbledore...only now have they started to become wary of him...**_

_**Cathy-Ann: Yay! -leaps for joy- And, just so you know, that really DID put joy in my oh so dull life ^_ Much thanks.**_

_**BLG: Oh, trust, no offense! I will warn you, my Harry is DEFINITELY OOC...becuase I have so much more fun that way ^_^ I don't mean to and I try not to overdo it, but...I just can't help it...oh, and this chapter...definitly OOC....no doubt about it...Sorry folks!**_

_**Moonlit Wave: -sigh- yeah, I'm not good with the dramatic parts, so when it came to realization time, all I could think was, "Craaaaaaap. What now?" But I tried...In my defense, I'm just going to say that, deep down, they had always known....I guess...^_^**_

_**Doro . neko: -dies of laughter- I WISH it were Dumbledore, I really do...maybe I'll make him have his own little breakdown in the future...ho hum....Anywho, how do you know that Dumbledore didn't plan it, hmm? And the fact that Snape's potion worked means that it was indeed silver...but then again, it could all have just been a small mistake by the elves...you never know :3**_

_**BrittneysBojangles: One of the best on here? Gosh...-blushes- You're too kind...and just because of that, here's my update, dearie! Hope you enjoy it! ^_^  
**_

_**And, of course, THANK YOU! to all my other reviewers...you can't imagine how much joy those little comments give me! XD**_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_"How to achieve the moral breakdown of the enemy before the war has started -- that is the problem that interests me. Whoever has experien__ced war at the front will want to refrain from all avoidable bloodshed."_

_-Adolf Hitler_

Chapter 9: In Which Someone Has a Mental Breakdown

I spent about an hour sitting there on Sirius's lap, explaining everything that had happened to me since I had 'awoken'. This included the confrontation with Dumbledore Snape and I had had weeks before. After my long story, both men looked rather wary.

"It makes logical sense," Remus said. "If you have come back to us, than Voldemort could as well."

Sirius's frown deepened. "I don't understand. Why wouldn't Dumbledore see that? This isn't like him…"

I sat silently.

_Looks like they'll be taking my side. Well, there aren't really sides to be taking, but they're agreeing with me. That's good. I don't think I would be able to stand it if they didn't believe me. That would suck…a lot…_

"Why don't we save this for another time, hm? I think we've learned enough today to last me a few weeks," Sirius muttered grimly. (AN: heh heh...'grimly'...'cause he's a grim...sorry, I'll shut up now...)

"Yeah," I agreed. I didn't particularly feel like going into yet another theory that may or may not be true. One was already enough, thank you very much.

"So, how about a party?" Sirius suggested, an evil glint sparkling in his eyes.

"Sure…" I agreed hesitantly. "But first, maybe we should…um, inform someone that Remus isn't dieing or anything…I _did_ kind of make a scene in the Great Hall a few hours ago. I'm surprised no one's burst through the Infirmary doors yet…"

As if on cue, the doors flew open and Lance, Gunnar, and Alvis came rushing in. They came to a halt when they caught site of us.

"Um…Charles?" Lance said. "Why are you on Padfoot's lap?"

I blushed and jumped off of Sirius as he released me. Sirius laughed.

"Just comforting the little Prongslet!" he said with a grin.

"Prongslet?" Alvis asked, his mind already reeling.

Lance stuttered, "L-like Prongs? _The_ Prongs?"

Sirius laughed. "Sorry, sorry, he just looks so much like James did his first year! Guess I said it without thinking…." He scratched his head and kept on grinning.

_No, ya didn't. Stupid godfather… Oh well, can't honestly say I mind all that much anyways. _

"This is great!" Lance shouted, causing me to jump.

"W-what is?" I asked fearfully.

"You're finally bonding with them!"

_What the…?_ "Um…haven't I before?"

"Uh…No, not really."

"Yeah, Charles," Gunnar started. "Every time we'd go to see them, you'd just kinda sit there and watch. We were starting to wonder if you'd ever warm up to them, you know?"

"You always acted like you didn't like hanging out with Padfoot and Moony," Lance said with a frown, but then he flipped it over. "But now that you do, we can hang out even more!"

Sirius looked over at me, pouting. "You didn't like hanging out with us?"

That was the last straw. I burst out laughing. Soon, everyone in the Infirmary joined in.

"I'm glad, Prongslet! I mean, Charles," Sirius added as soon as his breath returned to him.

"Well, we'd better go," I said as I began pushing my fellow dorm mates out the door. I certainly didn't want to stay there and risk my friends finding anything else out. "Feel better, Professor!" I shouted back before running to the door.

Actually, I ran into the door. "Ouch…" I rubbed my head methodically as I looked up to glare at whomever had just slammed the door into my face.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" a woman in front of me asked. She bent over and ripped my hands away from my face to get a look at the bump that had begun to form. Instead of fussing over my head, however, she jolted back with a gasp. That's when I got a good look at her.

_Oh no. Oh bloody Hell no! What is she doing here? Why? Why is she here? I don't understand! Why her and why, for bloody Hell's sake, now?! _

"Hey Hermione!" Lance burst. He ran over to her and gave her a hug before asking, "What are you doing here? How's my cousin?"

She blinked for a moment before coming back to earth. "Oh, well, your DADA teachers asked me to come. And Ron's just fine, though I think he's a little nervous about being left with Henry by himself." She giggled lightly. Then she glanced back to me. "Who is…he?"

"Um…Hermione," Sirius stammered, his eyes flickering between the two of us, "that's Charles, a first year. Lance's friend." He then proceeded to walk over to us and gave me a small pat on the head, sending me a sympathetic glance before turning to…Hermione. "I'm sorry, I had forgotten that you were supposed to arrive today. You see, we had a bit of an emergency…"

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh yes, I heard!" She rushed over to the still pale, but otherwise healthy Remus. "Are you okay, Remus?" she asked urgently.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, it was just…a cold." He eyed the others and myself warily. I took the hint.

"Come on, you guys." I shoved them out the door and glared at the men left behind. "Don't worry, we _will_ interrogate them later about this," I warned before shutting the doors behind me.

_Oh yeah, they had better have one Hell of an excuse for this one. How could I drag Hermione into this mess? If she finds out, then she'll tell…Ron. At least Ron's not here. Then again, it might have been better if it were he rather than Hermione. She's smart. Too smart. She'll figure it out eventually…and who's Henry?_

"So, what was going on, Charles? What were you shouting about in the Great Hall?" Gunnar asked as we headed toward the dungeons to our common room.

I paled slightly, but kept as straight a face as possible. "Well…Professor Lupin collapsed and I didn't know what to do, so I went and got Professor Black and Professor Snape."

Gunnar and Lance nodded in understanding. Alvis said nothing. That wasn't a good sign.

When we arrived at the portrait and went in, Lance and Gunnar ran off to play a game of chess. I decided to work on a Charms essay that wasn't due until Thursday. Alvis joined me at one of the tables.

"You know."

I glanced up. Alvis was giving me a piercing stare. "Know what?"

Alvis frowned. "You know what I'm talking about. That Professor Lupin is a – "

I clamped my hand over his mouth. I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the stairs that went down to the boys' dorms. When we arrived at the first years' room, I released him and glared.

"How did you find out?" I snapped.

Alvis took a step back and held his hands up. "I just noticed…he's always sick during the full moon, never touches silver…I wasn't going to tell anyone!" he said quickly.

I relaxed. "Sorry, didn't mean to yell, it's just….it's hard for him and I think he likes being here, you know?"

Alvis loosened up as well and smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know. And it's not like I'm prejudiced against werewolves or anything. To be honest, I never really thought much of them in the first place. I never had a reason to." He frowned. "How did you know?"

"Um….same way you did." _Not really. _

"Oh…" he slumped a bit before brightening up and giving me a smirk. "So, what's with the sudden closeness between you and our DADA professors?"

I shrugged. "Dunno, we just got to talking…"

He waited. I said nothing. "About?" he pushed.

"Oh, nothing much," I said. "Just talked about some books, some spells, and other…wizardly stuff." _Wow, how convincing was that? Not very. _

Alvis was about to protest, but instead sighed. "Fine, I'll believe you. This time."

'_This time'. Yeah, that strikes a fear in me like no other. Why does this kid have to be so bloody smart? Oh Merlin, I've got two smart twits to deal with! Why does life have to be so complicating? I should write a book: Life Sucks by Harry Potter, Charles Evans, the Chosen One, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die, and any other title I'll have by the time this blasted stuff is over. That is, if I live to see the day …which I've got, oh, maybe a 20% chance of…and apparently a 50% chance of reincarnation…oh fun fun fun…_

---

"Why is she here?!"

"Harry…"

"_Why?!_"

"Harry, calm down…"

"WHY?!"

Sirius and Remus sighed as I continued to pace back and forth in front of them, fuming. We were in their living chamber's lounging area in front of the fire that crackled and sparked about as much as I did.

"Harry, we're sorry, we didn't know when we asked her to come," Remus said.

I crossed my arms. "Why?" I asked for the fourth time.

"She's here to teach classes for a week about different dark magic spells and their effects on the body," Sirius answered. "She's a mediwitch. We thought it would be a nice experience for our NEWT students to learn about the effects black magic can have on the body and how to counter them and such."

"Don't worry, she won't be teaching your class," Remus chimed in, "but she will be in the castle for a week…so be careful."

_Oh yeah, 'be careful' he says. 'Be careful'! The woman who knew me like the back of her hand and is smarter than most of Europe is here in this castle and I'm supposed to 'be careful'? More like BEWARE! WARNING! RUN LIKE HELL!_

"Hey, I have something that might cheer you up!" Sirius bounced out of his seat and rushed into one of the connecting rooms. I glanced at Remus who shrugged good-naturedly, but had a knowing smile plastered on his face.

After a few bangs and crashes later, Sirius returned with a bundle in his hand. He handed it to me with a goofy grin and plopped back down next to Remus. I looked down at the wad in my hands and unwrapped it timidly. Then I gasped.

"My invisibility cloak!" I shouted. "And the Sneakoscope Ron gave me our third year. And my wand!" I picked it up and grasped its handled, relishing the feeling of it in my hand once more. Then I noticed the last item. "What's this?"

"A two-way mirror," Sirius replied with a toothy grin. "James and I used to use it during detention." He stuck his hand in his robe pockets and pulled out an identical mirror. "I'll always have the other, if you ever need me."

I gave him a hug. "Thanks Sirius."

He gave me a hearty squeeze. "Any time, Prongslet."

I released him and looked up. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"That was your nickname," Remus said. "When you were a baby, Sirius and James called you that. Of course, you do look a lot like your father, so it's not very surprising."

"Do you mind?" Sirius asked, pouting once more.

_I swear, he's like a puppy left out in the rain._ "No, I don't."

Sirius continued to squeeze me until Remus convinced him to let go. I think I was beginning to turn blue.

"Oh, by the way, we have another surprise for you," Sirius added before I left.

"What?"

Remus smiled. "You'll see. Just come to the DADA room during lunch tomorrow."

"Okay." I smiled and waved before running out the portrait door. And that's how they made me forget all my troubles I'd have to deal with in the morning. Sly gits.

---

"So that's your cousin's wife?" Gunnar asked as we looked over at the head table. At the end sat the twenty-five-year-old Hermione Granger.

_Actually, I guess it's Weasley now, isn't it? Well, that doesn't surprise me. Always knew those two would get together. Gosh, she hasn't changed a bit. Her hair's still as bushy as ever, though I guess she does look more…feminine. Hey, who was Ron with now? Henry?_

"Yeah, her name's Hermione. She's a mediwitch. She was best friends with Harry Potter before…well, you know." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "So was Ron. They met at Hogwarts and have been together ever since, I guess."

"Hey, Lance, who's Henry?"

Lance smiled, "Their two-year-old son." My eyes widened. "I've only met him twice, but let me tell you, the kid's already making trouble. Can't wait to hear the stories of Ron's week alone with the little bugger." He laughed, along with Gunnar and Alvis. I, however, was about as humorous as a rock at that moment.

_Son…son? Son?! T-they have a son already? Named Henry? Henry Weasley. Henry Granger. Henry Weasley-Granger. Why Henry? Well, there was a king name Henry. Actually, there were a lot of kings named Henry. That's interesting, though I doubt their son would ever be a king. King Henry Weasley. Yeah, that's a title that would send the Malfoy's to St. Mungos for sure. 'Course, then I'd have to see them every day 'cause that's where I'll end up once this is all over!_

"Um…Charles? You okay?" I didn't hear Alvis's voice calling me. Oh no, I was too busy having a mental breakdown.

_I've missed everything! When they got together, their wedding, when their bloody son was born! I've missed everything! The party Sirius probably had when he became a free man, Fred and George's opening of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes, Neville becoming a Professor, graduation…_

"Charles!" Lance shouted.

_I've missed it all! Everyone's lives! All the people who had become my friends! They've already grown up and have completely moved on! And where am I? I'm stuck back in my first year at Hogwarts as Charles Evans and no one knows. And no one can. But some already do. And they're in danger. And the ones who don't know are probably in danger too 'cause they might find out. If they find out, then they'll defiantly be in danger. And then if something happens to them it'll be my fault. All because I let it slip. They can't know. She can't know. He can't know. They have a son. If something happened to them…but I've missed everything…_

"Uh…I think he's hyperventilating." Gunnar said.

"Charles! Come on, mate, snap out of it!"

"We should take him to the Infirmary."

"Padfoot! Moony!" I heard Lance shout.

"Professor Snape!" Alvis added.

_They'll be hurt. And they've got a kid. If they find out, they'll end up like that. He'll end up like me. Orphaned and stuck with horrible relatives. But the Weasley's would never be like the Dursley's. But what if he were sent somewhere else? I can't let that happen. And it would be all my fault. What other families could that happen to? Has it happened already? Are there kids out there whose parents have died because of me? Oh Merlin…_

"Evans!" Snape's voice shouted. "Snap out of it!"

_It'll be all my fault. They'll all die and it'll be all my fault. My fault…_

"What's he mumbling?"

"I dunno…"

"Stand back, you foolish children!"

"Severus, calm down. Let's take him to the infirmary."

"Back off, Snivellus! I'll carry him!"

"Oh yes and what are you going to do, Black?"

"Oh, shove off! I already know everything, you greasy git! Don't act so high and mighty!"

I felt myself being lifted from my bench and into someone's arms. I wasn't exactly aware of what was going on around me though. I didn't notice the crowd of worried faces from the Slytherin table, the pained faces of Sirius and Remus, or the confused expression Snape wore. I didn't notice the concerned looks on the other Professors and Hermione or the blank look Dumbledore wore. Oh no, I was too busy mumbling to myself about all the deaths I was sure to bring. How everything would be my fault.

Everything went black.

---Sirius's POV (since little Harry's having some mental issues at the moment ^_^)---

I placed Harry in one of the hospital beds and called for Poppy. She came bustling over, took one look at Harry, and gasped.

"Sirius, what's happened?"

"I don't know. He keeps mumbling to himself…"

"I believe he's having a mental breakdown," came Snape's snarky voice as he and Remus entered the Infirmary. "It was bound to happen at some point, I imagine. He has too much on his shoulders."

I glared. "What? You mean Voldemort? Why does he think that he can't tell anyone? Why does he need to do everything on his own? Why won't he depend on us?" I slumped down on the bed next to my godson while a rather confused Poppy bustled about around him.

_Why won't he talk to us? What's he so afraid of that he can't talk to us?_

"He doesn't want anyone to die because of him," Remus's voice rang. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to look at him. "He's afraid that anyone who knows will be in danger. He doesn't want anyone to know. And I think that Hermione being here might have driven him over the edge. He's probably afraid that she'll find out and…"

"Die," I finished.

"What can't I find out?"

We all jumped and turned to see Mrs. Weasley, arms crossed, at the Infirmary door.

_Damn. This is going to take a lot of explaining…_

_---_

**_Heh, sorry 'bout the cliffie...I'll update soon, I promise (much much sooner than I did this time!)_**

**_Chapter 10: We're Missing Something, Aren't We?: Sirius tries smooth talking, Snape tries to be snarky, and both fail, requiring Remus to use his brain. _**

**_Please, please, PLEASE review...you know I love those little things...so click the button, go on, you know ya wanna..._**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: Woo, updated a lot faster than last time, right? Well, anywho here's the next chapter...There will be bickering and some heart-to-heart junk that I won't really spend much time on ^_^ Though, I warn you, Harry's pretty much an observer throughout this chapter, but hopefully it'll still be enjoyable…hopefully…_**

**_Juliette Fox: -laughs- Wow, I loved your review! (seriously, I was having the worst moment when yours popped up and it just made me giggle...a lot) Anyways, don't worry, when I was writing his mental breakdown moment...I was laughing hysterically. Then I felt kinda bad 'cause my character was suffering...but I couldn't help it, it was just so darn funny! ^_^ Thank you so much for brightening my day! -gives a cookie-_**

**_TLDriver66: -laughs- I know...I probably do in this chapter too...but for some odd reason my computer doesn't recognize it and I don't seem to be smart enough too either -pats computer and say 'it's alright'-_**

**_JWOHPfan: I know! At least I've got one character who's actually...'in character'...well, in that chapter anyways _ _**

**_RRW: Yes, yes, those darn questions ^_^ But, you're right, she probably would figure it out soon anyways...but she does have other things to be worrying about -hint, hint- Well...you'll figure that out in this chapter..._**

**_Sabaku no Sable: ....-pause-.......-bursts out laughing-_**

**_BrittneysBojangles: -weeps tears of joy- My word, you're too nice! Here, have a dozen cookies -hands over a pile of cookies- Gosh, you make me feel so happy! -keeps on weeping...- THAAAANK YOOOOU! -hugs-_**

**_Doro . neko: ....hmm....-begins saying 'Prongslet over and over again-....by Goerge, you're right! .... -begins to turn it into a song...- P.S. I will very much consider that title...though it doesn't quite fit for this chapter...^_^_**

**_ASDFers: Oh, don't worry, there will be battles...not exactly anytime soon, but in a few chapters...I think...__**

**_Nefra: O.O Oh my word...you're practically inside my head!!! -hugs- I'm so glad you like it and gave such a wonderful review! -hugs again- When I read it, I got so excited and just kept thinking 'yes, YES! They understand my characters! YEEESSS!' -sigh- you don't know how happy your review made me feel, honestly....-hugs one more time- Okay, okay, I'll stop....._**

**_And to all my other reviewers, THANK YOU! You're reviews keep me alive and writing and brighten my days sooo much (seriously, most days, reading these reviews are the highlights of them...) So, on that note, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it!_****  
**

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_"We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic."  
- Cullen Hightower quotes_

Chapter 10: We're Missing Something, Aren't We?

_Ugh…where am I? And why do I have a headache? And why does this feel like déjà vu…oh no, not again!_

I shot up in the bed and looked around frantically.

_Okay, I'm in the Hogwarts Infirmary. I'm still an eleven-year-old…not sure if that should relive me or not. Now…wait, why am I in the Infirmary? Am I sick? Did I get hurt? No, no, I don't remember any of that…hm…what happened before…oh yeah, I was thinking about…Oh Merlin…_

"Ha-….Charles!" I turned to look at Sirius's approaching form, followed by Remus, Snape, and…Hermione? "Hey, you're awake! What happened, kiddo?"

"I don't know…"

"I believe he had a mental breakdown," came Snape's sneering voice.

"Shut it, Snivellus! You're not helping matters!"

"Only speaking the truth."

_Mental Breakdown, huh? Well, that could make sense I guess…I mean, if you saw a run-through of my life…well, I was bound to have one at some point. I mean, first my parents are killed, protecting me, when I was one. Then I went to live with people who hated me and left in a cupboard, starved me, and treated me like a house-elf for about ten years. Of course, we can't forget Hagrid's rescue and how I soon discovered that I was the Boy-Who-Lived and known to every wizard in England. Then you toss in my first, second, third, and of course fourth year, plus the fact that I was reincarnated…you know, I'm surprised I've lasted this long. _

"I guess I did," I murmured.

Sirius stared at me for a moment before asking, "What were you thinking about?"

_Oh, how everyone I've come to know and love are going to die and all because of this so-called 'Chosen One' here._ "Nothing much."

"Bollocks," Snape muttered with a smirk. He turned to the lady behind him. "Hermione, dear, would you mind leaving? We need to talk with Charles for a bit."

"Oh no, Sirius, you're not getting off that easy. Something's going on here and I'm not leaving until I know just what that something is," she snapped.

_Oh great, the hands on her hips, that scowl…she's not going anywhere any time soon. _

I sighed and laid my head back down on the nice, lumpy pillow that had become far too familiar to me in the past. "I think I'm gonna go back to sleep now…"

Oh, but Sirius was having none of that. "No, you're not. You're going to explain to us what just happened." He turned back to Hermione and gave her a nice, charming smile. Oh, this would be good. "Listen, Hermione, dear, you've had a rough night. Wouldn't you like some well earned sleep? I'm sure your husband would be angry with us if his gorgeously, stunning wife were to get sick with exhaustion…"

"Sirius Black, you can not smooth talk me out of this room. And besides, it's morning. I'm quite well rested already, but thank you oh so much for your concern." She graced him with a smirk.

I couldn't help but snicker at that one, but I stopped when Sirius sent a glare my way. There was no way I was going to escape explaining my little panic attack back there.

"Mutt, she's not going anywhere. You should know how stubborn little know-it-all's can get."

She sent Snape a defiant stare. "'Oh no, you're doing it all wrong! You should be stirring that half a second slower! If you continue to stir like that, you'll get a potion that's only five-sixths as potent!' Yeah, I'm the know-it-all, mister high-strung Potion's Master."

Snape's death glare back towards the girl, who returned it gladly, made Sirius and I burst into laughter. Apparently, now that she was no longer threatened by grades, Hermione took crap from no one. And her Snape impersonations weren't half bad either.

"Well, Ms. Granger, what makes you feel so deserving of knowing what is going on in Mr. Evan's head when, until yesterday, you had no idea of his existence."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "It's Weasley now, Professor Snape."

"I'm sorry."

She blinked. "Really?" Apologies from Snape happened about as much as people escaped from Azkaban.

"Yes, anyone would pity the woman that married that imbecile."

Hermione let out a huff. "Did you forget that Ron managed to place third in our class rankings?"

"Ah yes, after you and, oh who was it? Draco, I believe?"

"So what? You probably tutored him to death."

"Oh? And you didn't do the same to the Weasley spawn?"

"No, not to death…"

"Enough already!" Remus shouted with much exasperation. "I swear, I've never heard two adults bicker more than you two. Not even you and Sirius!"

Snape sneered. "That's because the mutt doesn't have enough of a brain to actually hold a decent banter with."

"I beg your pardon?"

"ENOUGH!" Silence. "Thank you. Now, Hermione, Severus is right, this is Charles's personal business."

"Then what business is it of yours?" she retorted.

Remus sighed. "As his teachers, it is our duty to understand what is wrong and help him," he lied smoothly.

She opened her mouth to protest, but finding nowhere to argue, scowled and stomped out of the room. The four of us let out a sigh of relief.

"Rem, you're amazing, you know that?" Sirius said, shaking his head.

Remus gave a grunt. "Yes, well, smooth talking and bantering were obviously not going to work with her. Logic is the only thing that had any chance of working...I thought that would have been obvious." The other two men looked down at the floor as they realized their stupidity.

"Now then, Harry," Remus asked gently, "what happened back there?"

"Oh…I don't really remember." I lied.

"Yes you do," Snape chided.

"Look, I was just worrying about everyone and if they'd be in danger or…"

"Told you," Snape said with a smirk. Sirius glared at him before turning to me.

"Harry, you should know that none of this is your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself for what someone else does. Especially if that certain someone is Voldemort himself."

I smiled. "Yeah, I know," my smile slipped, "but I can't help it. I mean, what if…"

"Stop with the 'what if's." Remus interrupted. "First of all, Sirius is right. None of this is your fault, especially things that, might I add, haven't even happened yet."

"But they might! And I can't let them…"

"Then let us help," Sirius begged. "We already know what's going on, Harry. Let us take some of the burden. We're already…as you might say, 'good as dead' anyways, right? What harm could it do?"

I couldn't argue that. Well, I could, but it was more that I just didn't really want to. Plus, I don't think they would have backed down anyways. "Fine," I said.

Sirius grinned and gave me his big, godfather hug. "It's nice to have you here, Prongslet."

"Prongslet?" Snape twitched.

Sirius growled. "Yes, Prongslet. That's his nickname."

"Doesn't the boy have enough to deal with?"

"Shut up, Snivellus."

---

"Hey, mate! How're ya feeling?"

I looked over at Lance and Gunnar approaching, followed by Alvis and, surprising, Erol.

"Fine. Sorry about all that. Just a little…stressed I guess." I gave them a small, embarrassed smile.

"Ah, don't worry about it!" Gunnar gave him a pat on the back. "We're just glad it's nothing serious."

"What were you panicking about?" Alvis asked.

"Yeah, you really freaked us out," Erol said as he glanced over at the three men standing in the corner of the room. Guess they figured that I would want some alone time with my friends. However, now would have been a nice time to interrupt.

"Nothing much…just thinking about…um…Betsy and how she's doing…um, in her last letter she said she was sick and I was…you know, worried."

"Don't worry, mate!" Lance beamed. "She'll get better, I'm sure! She sounds like a tough lady."

I grinned. "Yeah, she is. But I think she's lonely nonetheless."

_Yeah, more like bored out of her mind. We can only send letters back and forth every couple of weeks so as not to draw attention to the orphanage. Owls flying in and out of windows is kind of…well, odd. Speaking of Betsy, I should probably send her a letter soon…it'll be a long one…_

"I think I'll go write to her right now." I jumped out of the bed and scurried towards the door. Hopefully, I'd be able to escape before they realized I was making a run for it.

"Hey, Charles! Wait!" _Crud. Alvis is way too smart for his own good. Literally. _

"Seeya!" I gave a half wave before bursting into the hall and running down to the Slytherin common room. I made it halfway before almost running into a pair of grown-ups conversing with one another silently in the corner of the hall. As I tiptoed closer, I realized it was none other than McGonagall and Hermione. Their faces seemed grim and worried. I sneaked as close as possible and strained to listen.

"…and we have no idea how it happened," Hermione said. She shook her head. "They're all gone. All three of them."

"But…how? The goblins have never had a successful break-in. Not since…"

"When You-Know-Who was searching for the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione spoke softly, her eyes widening. "Does that mean…"

"Of course not." Though McGonagall had the sternness in her voice, it still wavered. Neither were sure what to believe.

"But what could he possibly do with that ring? And Ravenclaw's diadem? Or even Slytherin's locket? I mean, there's nothing particularly powerful about them. They're just…artifacts, aren't they?"

The older witch shook her head. "I do not know. If they were, then why did Albus want them guarded? And why would someone steal them? None of this makes sense. Have you told Dumbledore already?"

Hermione nodded. "As soon as I got here. It only happened the night before yesterday."

"What was his reaction?"

The girl frowned. "It was…peculiar. He was not happy, that's for sure. But he would not say why. I believe he is confused as well, but not nearly as confused as the rest of us."

"Well, he has been acting odd lately. He's not nearly as…"

"Cheerful? Loopy?" The older woman nodded. "Yes, I've noticed." Hermione let out a long sigh. "I thought things would be easier after…that year. I thought that that was the sacrifice. When he left us forever…I thought that was the price for peace."

McGonagall patted her on the back softy. "That's what we all thought. Selfishly, we hoped that the boy had ended it for us. But we were wrong."

Hermione's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she nodded in agreement. "I wish he were still here, though. I would have rather…"

"You can not change what has already passed," McGonagall said, though her voice was drenched with unsaid regret. "We must deal with the present." The woman took a deep breath before continuing with their conversation. "Who is investigating the situation?"

Hermione rubbed her eyes and composed herself. "Ron and Bill," she answered. "We didn't want anyone else knowing more than necessary."

McGonagall nodded. "Yes, that would be unwise. What have they found?"

Hermione sighed. "Nothing. Ron sent me an owl this morning and said that he and his brother had spent all day examining the vault and have found nothing. No spells, no potions, absolutely no sign of force whatsoever."

McGonagall frowned. "What do the goblins have to say about this?"

Hermione shook her head. "They won't say a word. They don't even seem angry about the robbery."

The older woman's frown deepened. "We must be missing something."

Hermione sighed. "That's what I'm thinking, but it's no use. I'm even starting to think that the lack of evidence is evidence itself."

"You may be right," the professor murmured. "Well, I need to converse with Albus for a bit. How long will you be here?"

"Oh, just a week. Then I'll probably return and help Ron with the investigation if he and Bill haven't found anything yet. Bill has to return to Egypt in a few days, so he'll need some help."

The two women waved to each other before walking their separate ways. Hermione's way just happened to be right in my direction. Swell. I turned to run.

"Charles?"

_I've got to get better at this running thing._ "Oh, hi Mrs. Weasley."

She giggled. "Oh, just Hermione, please." She frowned. "Should you really be out of the Infirmary yet?" I shuffled my feet. She smirked. "I take that as a no. Your professors will be worried."

"They know I left." _I think._

"But should you have?"

"I feel fine," I protested.

"I'm sure you do." _Geez, she's sounding more like Poppy with every sentence. I bet she's a good mediwitch though…strict one at any rate._

Distracting her, I asked, "What were you and Professor McGonagall talking about?"

She grimaced slightly before giving me a sham of a smile. "Oh, nothing dear, don't worry."

"You guys didn't look too happy," I pointed out.

She gave me a sad smile. "We were just having a little problem. It's nothing you need to fret over.

_Yeah, a break-in at Gringotts isn't something that should concern the great Chosen One. I wish. Okay, I can't say I honestly expected a detailed answer, or even an answer at all, but it was worth a shot. Well, time to go step on some nails._

I gave Hermione a quick grin, causing her to edge back in alarm. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to…um…finish some homework." I didn't wait to hear a response. I scurried down the hallway and made my way to the all too memorable statue.

---

"What's going on, headmaster?" I demanded.

The man's eyes sparkled. "What do you mean, my boy?"

I growled. I was not his boy. "I mean, what have you been hiding? First Ms. Figg's death and now a break-in at Gringotts! Why would anyone want those artifacts? I know you know why. You would have no reason to guard them otherwise."

The old man sighed. "Harry," he began in a sickeningly sweet voice, "that's not something you should concern yourself with…"

I blew a fuse. "I shouldn't 'concern myself with'? Something stolen when we suspect Voldemort's return and I shouldn't 'concern myself'? Ms. Figg just got killed and I shouldn't 'concern myself'? So, what, if a hoard of deatheaters come bursting into the castle demanding my head on a silver platter, which, by the way, thank you so much for having, should I not 'concern myself' with that?"

"Harry, you must understand…"

"No, I will not listen to your 'understand' speech when, I for one, have no idea what I'm supposed to be understanding! You won't tell me anything!" I snarled.

"You're too young…"

Oh, that was the last straw. "Too young? Too young? I'm in my mid twenties! People have battled and died in wars before ever even touching my age! Sure, I'm in an eleven-year-old's body, but I've got the mind of someone who's seen much more then some older than fifty."

Dumbledore let out an exasperated breath. "That may be true, but you are still not ready."

"Try me," I challenged, arms crossed and glare blazing.

Dumbledore stood. I followed suit. The man towered over my small body as his voice boomed. "This has nothing to do with you or Voldemort and his supposed return." His voice became softer. "He's dead, Harry. Live your life for once…"

"Oh, yeah, people are dying and you tell me to live my life. That sounds a bit ironic, don't you think?"

The sparkle in the man's eyes had long since dimmed, but now they diminished completely. "Ms. Figg's death, as unfortunate as it was, was one of many that deatheaters, angered by their master's death, have caused. It is nothing out of the ordinary."

I scolwed. "But me living is!" I protested. "I should be dead, but I'm not. You said Voldemort should be dead, but…"

"He is."

_Okay, this is getting really old. _"I highly doubt that," I sneered as I stomped towards the exit. "I'd be willing to bet all the galleons left in my vaults that you'll be regretting those words." And with that, I slammed the door.

---

**_Dumbles got bitch slapped! _**

**_..._**

**_Heh heh heh....sorry, couldn't resist the outburst...^_^_**

**_Chapter 11: Unhelpfulness and Owls: In which puns are made, more death occurs, and a certain a little friend makes an appearence._**

**_Hope you enjoyed it! Please, as always, please review! Tell me what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong...or just what I am doing ('cause sometimes even I wonder...)_**

**_+++Buddyblack+++_**


	11. Chapter 11

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: Okay, I am so so soooo sorry this took so long to upload...last month of school was absolute Hell! I've spent the past week just recovering from it...I actually wasn't gonna update until Friday, but...well, I started painting outside, but then it started to rain...which was okay...but then it started to storm...I'm no friend of lightening, so I ran like Hell...now I'm stuck watching some Spanish soap...aparently, some priest's illegitimate son has knocked up his sister-in-law and someone has been murdered...whatever that means to you..._**

**_Sorry, this chapter's a tad dull...but the next chapter is awesome! One of my favs...but half of you will probably read, go 'WTF?!' and storm away...-nods sadly- yep, I'm prepared though...-sniff- maybe..._**

**_Also, sorry, I'll reply to reviews later...I'm too tired right now...I think I have a cold (can't stop coughing...) _**

**_I hope you enjoy this slightly boring chapter...I'll update very soon (I LOVE the next chappie ^_^)_**

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_ The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on. _

_- Robert Bloch_

Chapter 11: Unhelpfulness and Owls

"That stupid man! That stupid, stupid old man! Why can't he see it? Why is he in such denial! What is going on in that brain of his?" I shouted crossly.

"Denial, apparently," Snape drawled.

I rolled my eyes and continued to pace back and forth in front of the Potion Master's desk. "What could those artifacts be hiding? Dark magic? Information? Curses?"

"Curses are dark magic."

I glared at Snape. "You're not helping."

He sighed. "That is because I know as much as you do. The man has told me nothing."

"I thought you were his most trusted spy?"

He shrugged. "It appears that I am not so trusted."

I frowned. So, no one was trusted by Dumbledore, which also meant that no one knew what was going on in the cotton filled head of his. How helpful.

"What about Voldemort?" I inquired. "Has he ever mentioned anything about Slytherin's locket or a ring? Ravenclaw's diadem?"

Snape shook his head. "No. I've never heard him mention anything of the sort, nor any want or need of such items."

_Great. The almighty spy knows about as much as the eleven-year-old. I had hoped that he'd know something, but I was apparently very wrong about that. Once again, not helpful._

"As much as it pains me to make a suggestion," and boy did it pain him, "why not ask the mutt and the werewolf? They might know of the items or something that involves them."

"You know, Sirius and Remus have names."

Snape sneered. "I know." He gestured towards the door, dismissing me from his sight. "However, such things are irrelevant at the moment. Go ask those blasted DADA professors of yours and see if they know anything," Snape said gruffly. He obviously didn't take nicely to the idea of them knowing more then him. However, he added with a smirk, "Though I doubt they will."

_Then what's the point?_ "Fine, fine, I'll go." _Geez, these professors are pushy nowadays._

---

"A do-a-what now?"

I sighed. "A di-a-dem, Sirius," I pronounced slowly. Too bad Snape wasn't there. He would have a kick out of that one.

"It's a crown, Siri," Remus answered from behind his tea as he took a sip. We were all sitting around the back office of the DADA room, sipping tea while surrounded by many of Remus's books and random doodads that had no apparent purpose but looked funny.

"It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw," I informed them. "And then there's a ring and Salazar Slytherin's locket."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging and looking to Remus for help. The werewolf, in return, threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"Don't look at me. I didn't even know her diadem was still in existence. As for what is might hold…I also had no idea Salazar had a locket."

"What kind of ring?" Sirius asked. "There are too many type of rings it could have been. There are family rings, bonding rings, rings that are keys, wedding rings, class rings, Lord of the Rings…"

Harry sighed. "Please be serious."

"But I am Sirius…"

"Siri, enough," Remus said, but his mouth was quirked in amusement.

Sirius sighed. "On a serious note," he tried to smother a grin, "it would most likely be a family ring of some sort; many pureblood family's have their own rings, usually worn by the heads of the family. If all these other items came from purebloods, as it seems to be, then it would make since that that ring did as well."

Surprised, I nodded at the deduction. I hadn't even considered family rings...

"Now then," Remus said, interrupting my thoughts, "why don't you go off to dinner and leave me and Pads here to research."

"What?" Sirius moaned.

Remus smirked. "Severus would be rather peeved if we were to find something he couldn't."

Sirius brightened and jumped from his seat, finger in the air. "To the library!"

Remus sighed. Some things would never change. "We'll see you tomorrow, Harry…I hope."

I grinned. "I'll join you afterwards."

Remus frowned slightly. "Harry, that might not be a good idea."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well…Hermione."

_Ah. Yes, that woman would sleep in the library if they'd let her put a bed there. She probably wouldn't even mind using books as pillows._

"Go and hang out with your friends, Harry," Sirius said as he gave me a pat on the back. "I bet they've been worried about you."

_Oh, right. I have friends. Friends I've been brushing off completely. You know, after years of Betsy being my only friend, I'm not used to having this many people around. Certainly not a bad thing, but rather different. Definitely different. _

---

"Hm…is it just me, or were they oddly…humourous about this? Not serious at all."

"What isn't Sirius?" Lance asked as he ripped a chicken leg from his mouth.

You know what, I think I see reason for Snape's nickname. "Nothing, just mumbling to myself."

"About?" Alvis pushed.

"Nothing," I repeated as I stabbed my potato. I began to contemplate whether or not it needed salt when Gunnar jumped up.

"I have it!" he shouted in triumph.

Alvis and I exchanged glances. This wouldn't be good.

"You mean…for the Gryffindors?" Lance asked as a mischievous grin smeared across his face.

Gunnar nodded fervently. "Yes, I was thinking about using those levitation charms…"

"…we should make them float forever like…"

"…ghosts! We could somehow put it in potion form…"

"…slip it in their drinks and they'll…"

"….be floating for hours. Maybe we should add…"

"…green dye? Just for fun?"

"Naturally."

"You two are worse than Fred and George…and you aren't even talking to your twin," I mumbled as I grabbed the salt.

"What'd you say, Charles?" Alvis asked.

I gulped. "Nothing." I changed subjects. "So, how will you make it into a drinkable form?"

We continued to bounce ideas off of one another throughout the rest of the meal. Finally, after coming to no definite answer, Gunnar stood.

"I guess we should make a visit to the library."

"No!" I said, standing up abruptly, jostling the table.

Three pairs of eyes looked over at me.

"I mean…let's wait until tomorrow…don't you guys have any Sunday night homework you've yet to finish?"

Lance and Gunnar gave a collective groan.

"Geez, Charles, why'd you have to remind us?" Lance moaned as we began to leave the Great Hall.

"Just thought it might be wise." _I'm sounding more and more like Hermione with every passing moment. I should be very frightened right now. _

Lance and Gunnar sighed in defeat while Alvis and I, the two who had no wait-till-the-last-minute homework, laughed softly.

"Charles!" I turned and saw Erol Weasley running up to me from the Gryffindor table. "Can we talk for a minute?"

I grimaced. This could not be good. "Sure."

"What do you need Charles for?" the younger Weasley asked.

"Don't worry," I said before the third year could speak, "you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up in a few minutes."

They nodded, though reluctantly. Leaving a Slytherin with a Gryffindor would have been unheard of, but Lance and his brother were actually on good terms with each other, so they had nothing much to fear. Then again, I had a lot more to fear than a bunch of pranks.

Erol and I walked out of the Great Hall and into one of the empty corridors. Apparently, this was not a conversation that should be overheard.

"How did you find out?" he blurted out abruptly.

"Find out what?" I asked having absolutely no clue what he was talking about. It was nice to be genuinely clueless for once.

"About Professor Lupin being a…you know…" His hands twitched as he stuttered off.

_Ah. So that's what he wanted to ask me about. Well, Alvis figured it out on his own, right? So it would be fine to say that I simply looked at the clues and figured it out on my own, right? Makes sense to me._

"I just put two and two together, you could say." I shrugged offhandedly, showing that the whole situation didn't really matter to me much. And it didn't. I knew perfectly well that with both the Wolfsbane and Sirius's Animagus, Remus was harmless.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" He gave me a half-hearted glare as if daring me to say anything but no.

"No," I said simply and truthfully. "I like Professor Lupin and I have no prejudice against werewolves. Besides, it's not my secret to tell."

Erol nodded in agreement. "Who else in your…group knows?"

"Alvis," I muttered in exasperation. "He found out the same way I did. Lance and Gunnar don't know yet."

"And you won't…"

I sighed. "No, I won't tell them. While I doubt that they'd care about it much at all, even Lance, it's still not my secret to tell."

"You know my brother's afraid of werewolves, right?" Erol affirmed.

"Yeah. I'm assuming that's why your family's kept that little secret from him."

Erol nodded again. "Pretty much. We didn't want to risk it."

We exchanged a few more words before going our separate ways. When I arrived back at the common room, Gunnar and Lance attacked me.

"What did my brother want?" Lance demanded.

"Yeah, what? What?" Gunnar chimed in.

I smiled in that 'not gonna tell ya' kind of way before plopping down in front of the crackling fire next to Alvis, ignoring the groans that erupted from the other two.

"Ah, come on! Spill!"

So, the rest of the night consisted of Lance whining, Gunnar poking (_What is with him and Alvis poking? And why is that the only thing the have in common?_), and Alvis chuckling while watching it all and giving me no aid whatsoever. The normality of the night, compared to the rest of that day, was actually quite a relief.

---

_Dear Betsy,_

_Sorry that you're so bored. It's almost too exciting here. Sirius and Remus found out a few days ago and my old friend, Hermione Weasley nee Granger, is hanging around for the next week or so. There is also the murders of Arabella Figg, a woman who used to be my neighbor, and Colin Creevey, a friend of mine from Hogwarts in the past. Dumbledore's being an idiot and he's hiding things from everyone. Something's going on, but he won't accept that. _

_I'll write more later..._

_Please stay safe,_

_Harry_

---

"You okay, Harry?"

After I had heard about Colin's death Monday morning, I had been like a ghost as I went from class to class. Besides Sirius, Remus, and Snape, the other professors just assumed I was having an off day. I wish that had been the case.

"I'm fine," I answered numbly. Sirius and Remus exchanged worried looks. Then, something seemed to hit Sirius and he jumped up with a grin.

"I know what'll cheer you up! Come on, Harry! You said you had to mail a letter right?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, to Betsy."

"Then let's head down to the Owlery! Come one!" Sirius grabbed me by the arm and began to drag me out the door while grinning madly.

I knew I was missing something when Remus smiled too. Having once taught Colin, Remus was also rather saddened by the young boy's death.

When we arrived at the Owlery, Sirius let out a long whistle. I heard a sudden whoosh of wings and looked up just in time to see a rather large snowy owl come barreling into me.

"H-hedwig?" I gasped. I put my arm out and she perched on it gladly and gave me a loving nip on the ear. "But…but how?"

_Okay, I can't say I know much about birds and owls and such, but shouldn't she have…passed on by now? I mean, she's what, fifteen, sixteen years old by now? And she's in perfect condition too. She doesn't look a day older than when I had died._

"We don't know either," Remus said as I began to pet Hedwig's feathers. "We think that she might be your familiar."

"Familiar?"

"It's an animal that's bound to you," Sirius answered. "We had actually already thought that before your reincarnation. The only problem was that when the human dies, so does their familiar. And Hedwig, clearly, did not."

"But since you didn't seem to actually die either," Remus continued, "then I believe that she must be your familiar. Definitely after living as long as she has."

I grinned. I was glad she was still alive and that she still recognized me.

"Thank you," I muttered to the two men beside me.

"No need, Prongslet. She missed you."

Hedwig gave a hoot of agreement before nipping my ear again and offering me her leg.

"Urgent to get to work, hm?" I asked her as I began to tie my letter to her leg. "Take this to Betsy Evans. She's very nice, so make friends." She gave me another nip before flapping into the air and out of the Owlery.

---

The days passed on and, luckily, I had no more encounters with Hermione nor any other issues. Now, it was Friday evening and Sirius, Remus, Snape and myself had gathered in the DADA room for a little meeting. I had left Lance and Gunnar to play Exploding Snap in the common room while Alvis read a book about transfiguration of humans and other living creatures.

"So she's leaving Sunday morning?" I asked. Remus and Sirius nodded.

"She has to go help Ron with the investigation," Remus replied. "They've yet to find anything even remotely helpful and they're becoming stressed."

_Well, we haven't found anything either, so they're not the only ones. There is absolutely nothing special about those artifacts that were stolen. Nothing. Besides them being from the founders, there's nothing magical or powerful about them...The thief would have had more fun stealing from my vault than that one. _

"What about…Colin? Do they know who killed him?" I had, for the most part, gotten over Colin's death. Hedwig had helped a lot on that part.

"No," Sirius growled. "They just assume it's another random death."

"The odd thing, however, is that the boy's death and Figg's were done differently from the others," Snape said. "The other deaths that had been happening before were obviously done by deatheaters. These deaths have no proof of who had killed them. Whoever is doing the killing is using an untraceable wand and leaves no tracks behind them. They are far too smart to be any deatheater I've known." Snape let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But besides those two murders, no one else has died...the deatheaters aren't acting on their own anymore."

_Well, that's just swell. Not only is this person, *cough*Voldemort*cough*, killing off the people I had known in the past, but they're doing it well. And stealthily. Which means we have absolutely no proof. For all we know, if could be some random serial killer. Though I highly doubt it._

"I guess we'll just have to…wait." As much as I hated waiting, there wasn't much else we could do. Frustrating, yes, but unavoidable. "But Halloween's tomorrow."

The men looked at me.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

I gave a grim smile. "Something bad always happens to me on Halloween. By the end of tomorrow, I have no doubt that something, useful or not, will happen. At least I'll be expecting it."

While I had been expecting something to happen that day, I had never even begun to suspect what actually did.

---

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**_Chapter 12: A Flashy Entrance to Remember: It's the moment you've all been waiting for...please don't kill me after said moment! It's Halloween night and things are going to get...very very interesting...truths will be revealed and...other stuff..._**

**_Hope this was enjoyable! I'm sure some of you will like the next chapter (it's MY favourite...got my fav character in it too)_**

**_I'll update soon...maybe..._**

**_+++BUDDYBLACK+++_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter..._**

**_Author's Note: __Sorry for the super corny name of Harry's broom...I didn't even catch how ironic it was until I typed it out...Also, by the end of this chapter...you'll probably be very confused. I'm going to tell you now that that's okay (some of you will also probably be a little pissed at me -shivers- sorry...-sniff- ). You're supposed to be confused. It's all a part of my evil plan! MWAHAHAHA! Anywho, lot's of stuff will be explained in Chapter 13, so fear not! And don't kill me...I mean, if you did that, then you'd be confused...forever...._**

**_Draeconin: I'm just going to assume that, as long as he has the key, no one will question him. Also...I like to think that those sneaky little goblins are too smart for their own good and already know who he is :) Love me some goblins!_**

**_darkwish3: Tooooootally ^_~_**

**_Striker1346: Oh...my...gosh......-dies of laughter- That would be hilarious! I'd love to write a spoof of that...che, priceless XD_**

**_xfighter4: dude, Harry is a moron, no denying that ^_~. I hate when stories make characters all powerful and such, so...I couldn't make him have a lot of common sense, ya know? Totally not canon (though, heh, not much of this story is, so I'm not quite sure why I even bother...)_**

**_annv: I dunno....-points downwards at new spiffy chappie- maybe...who knows? ^_~_**

**_Pledodge: Okay, just got to say that your review made me both die of laughter and almost cry! -gives you a ton of cookies- Seriously, I should, once again, make a spoof of that (though how on Earth that would ever take place, I have no clue...so I guess I'll have to go to Middle Earth?) Not sure if this is better than your idea, but I hope it pleases you! -sniff- I'm so glad you like it! And I love long reviews! They make me feel soooo happy! -jumps around- Also, not sure about those thestrals, but dementors will probably pop up at some point...P.S. I'm not much of a watermelon gal, but I do like canalope ^_~ THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! -hugs-  
_**

**_I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I do! Like I've said, this is one of my faves, but I warn you...things get interesting and I'm sure of some of you (though it truly pains me to even think such thoughts!) will not like it...but that's okay...'cause I'm sure some of you will!...Hopefully!....please?_**

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_"Battle not with monsters  
lest ye become a monster  
and if you gaze into the abyss  
the abyss gazes into you."_

_- Friedrich Nietzsche  
_

Chapter 12: A Flashy Entrance to Remember

"Ready for the game, Charles?" Lance asked as we walked down to breakfast.

_Am I ready? No, not really. Ravenclaw's team is actually pretty good...and I've been out of practice for over ten years...plus, it's Halloween...which means something bad is going to happen...I just know it. Call it the Chosen One's intuition. _

"Sure," I mumbled as rhinos began stomping around in my stomach.

"Ah, don't worry!" Gunnar said as he gave me a pat on the back. "We've seen you practice! Those nerds don't have anything on you...you're even smarter than they are!"

_Yeah, but I cheated._ "Thanks, guys."

My nervousness ended as soon as the whistle blew and I soared through the air. Sirius bought me a new broom, since my old one was clearly outdated, and I found that I quite liked the Lighteningbolt (plus, how ironic is that? Harry Potter and a Lighteningbolt broom?). It was rather nice to just float about in the sky and forget all my worries. Well, besides looking for the Snitch, of course.

Before even five minutes into the game, I saw the familiar glimmer next to one of the Ravenclaw beaters. I shot down towards it and reached out. The beater, surprised at my sudden appearance, just about fell off his broom as I zoomed passed him and yelled some rather foul words that I didn't really pay much attention to. I chased the Golden Snitch as it fluttered left and right. There was a whoosh behind me and I knew that the other Seeker had seen my chase, but I didn't concern myself with him as I reached forward and grasped the Snitch in my right palm. Seconds later, shouts and cheers erupted from the stands. The Slytherin side, naturally, erupted in joy with the first winning of 170 to 10. I even saw Snape give a smirk as Remus and Sirius cheered. Well, Remus cheered. Sirius jumped up, arms in the air, and let out a whoop. So much for not being biased.

I slipped the Snitch in my pocket and began to glide down when my broom gave a jolt. I stared down at it, confused, and tired to glide down once more when it gave a leap and jetted upward. It crisscrossed, flew straight up, straight down, to the left, right, and upside down. I hung on for dear life as the feeling of panic and deja vu rushed over me.

_Well, isn't this nice? Even when I'm not Harry Potter, people still want to bloody kill me! Well, this isn't good. I wonder who? Voldemort in the crowd or some angry student? Someone having fun? Actually, I probably shouldn't be worrying about that at the moment...but how am I supposed to stop this thing!_

I grasped the handle of the broom with both hands and squeezed until my knuckles were white. All I could think to do was to not fall off. Easy, right? Not really.

"Evans, what are you doing?" I heard our captain shout from below.

"TRYING NOT TO _FALL OFF!_" I shouted at the top of my lungs as the broom lurched forward and did a series of loop-d-loops. Problem was, with the new broom, it was about three times as fast compared to the last time.

I could hear the people in the stands talking back and forth, some cheering on the insane stunts while others murmured in worried tones as teachers began shuffling to help. Sirius, Remus, and Snape were already down below, faces no longer happy as the watched me worriedly. They seemed to be muttering amongst each other, moving their wands every once in a while and scowling afterwards.

"WHAT IS GOING _ON_?!" I shouted as the broom jolted down towards the group, causing them to scatter. I probably would have thought it was funny if I hadn't been trying not to die. Just as I thought of jumping off, my broom shot up into the air...and it wouldn't stop going. After a while I was gasping for breath and felt lightheaded. The further it went, the dizzier I got.

_Okay, getting a little cold here...and hard to breath...at this rate, I'll either pass out or..._

---

_...huh?....Did I pass out again? Dang, I've been doing that way too much lately. That can't be healthy. Hey, wait...shouldn't I be dead? Well, I thought that last time, and...that didn't exactly turn out how I expected it to..._

I opened my eyes and saw Sirius's face inches from mine.

"Ah!" I shouted in surprise. Sirius moved away, giving me some much needed space.

"He's okay, people," Remus, who was next to Sirius, said to the crowd surrounding me.

I tried to sit up, but the vertigo made my head swim and I fell back down on the ground.

"Stay down, Evans," I heard Snape say from somewhere behind me. Suddenly, he came into my vision, potion in hand. "Drink."

I took the potion gingerly and gulped the blue liquid down, cringing at the foul taste. Immediately, the dizziness subsided and I sat up. Looking around, I noticed that behind the men were other professors and students, as well as Hermione. Oddly, Dumbledore was no where in sight.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We hoped that you might know," Remus said, worry lining his scarred face.

"Well, I caught the Snitch and tried to fly to the ground when my broom decided to try and throw me off. That's all I know."

"Sirius and Severus have checked the broom over and found nothing peculiar," Remus pointed out. "Could it have been someone in the crowd?"

_Concerning me? Most likely._ "Probably...but we shouldn't discuss that here."

Remus turned to look at the crowd of players, teachers, and other students and nodded in agreement. He offered his hand and pulled me up.

"Let's go to the DADA classroom," he suggested. "I have some chocolate in there. It would make you fell better."

I smiled. "Thanks."

---

"A Levitation Charm?"

Remus nodded as he handed Snape, Sirius, and I some tea, making sure I got some chocolate as well, before sitting down on one of the tables in the classroom. "Yes. When we saw you falling, Sirius cast it and floated you down."

"Who would have done that to him though?" Sirius asked.

"Who else?" Snape sneered. "That's the same exact thing that happened his first year with Quirrell. It's almost too obvious."

I paled. If that was the case and Voldemort really had been behind it, then that meant he knew. He knew about the reincarnation and even knew who I was. And that would be bad.

"But isn't it sort of...I don't know...simple?" Sirius suggested. "We all know Voldemort's an evil homicidal guy. right? Wouldn't he do something...I don't know...more sinister?"

That made sense. "So you think it was someone else?"

"It could have been a jealous student or something. It was right after you won the game for Slytherin. Maybe you just ticked off a Ravenclaw or something."

True. That could have been a possibility, but still...I nibbled on my chocolate as I muled it over.

_Even if they were angry, would a student really go that far? Whoever did that clearly wanted me severely injured or dead. I didn't think kids had those kinds of thoughts...or guts, for that matter. But Voldemort just doesn't seem like the type to do something so simple either. He'd rather duel or do something gruesome. He'd want to make a big show of it, right? Ugh. I don't know. I don't even think I care much at the moment. At least my bad event for the Halloween holiday is over. Not much can top a near death experience, right? I wish that were true. _

"We'll discuss it later, Harry." Remus gave me the rest of the chocolate bar. "Go rest up before the feast. I'm sure you're tired."

That I was. Exhausted, more like. "Thanks," I said again that day as I slipped from the room and back to the common room. No one pestered me when I entered, only gave me their quiet congratulations. Usually, in the Gryffindor dorms, there would be shouting and yelling and pretty much chaotic partying until McGongall came up and put a stop to it. The quietness of the Slytherin dorms, however, were much appreciated as I crawled into bed and slipped into a somewhat peaceful sleep.

---

The Halloween Feast was, as always, filled with food that made your mouth water. Golden turkey, doughy rolls, and warm pumpkin pie. Famished from my rather hectic day, I began piling food on my plate.

"So..." Lance began. "How's it going?"

"You want to know what happened, don't you?" Lance gave me an 'I'm sorry' smile. I sighed. "I don't know," I confessed quite truthfully. "We think it might have been a jealous student or someone playing a joke on me or something."

"That was hardly a joke," Alvis pointed out. "You could have died. What has Dumbledore said about it?"

_Dumbledore hasn't said a thing. You'd think he'd be worried about someone trying to kill a student, especially his little Golden Child, but apparently he's got better things to deal with, like how many lemon drops he has left. _

"I haven't spoken to him."

Alvis's eyes narrowed in on me. "Why not?"

I shrugged. I didn't honestly want to talk to him. The man couldn't even see what was going on all around him. What help would he be?

"Oh well, who cares? Let's eat!" Gunnar jabbed his fork into his food and began scarfing it down while Alvis sighed at his brother's lack of table manners.

I was about to take a bite of a pumpkin shaped roll when I felt it. The indescribable feeling of anticipation and worry. I felt something coming. I dropped my roll onto my plate and shot my gaze towards the door. Not but seconds later, it flew open.

There, in the entrance, stood a black figure. Their robes were billowing as they stepped forward into the Great Hall. You could feel the shivers creeping down everyone's spine. The figure reached up and slipped his hood down. He had shaggy black hair and a fairly handsome face of a person in their mid-twenties. Brown eyes gleamed as he looked around the Hall with a smirk.

I gaped in horror. I recognized that face.

"Well, hello," he said in a sarcastically cheerful tone. "I hope you're all having a wonderful feast. I'm oh so sorry I had to interrupt."

Dumbledore stood and he looked more menacing and deadly than I had ever seen him before. Definitely no sparkle in those eyes. "What do you think you're doing here?" his voice raged.

The figure merely grinned wider. "Why, I'm here for Harry, of course."

My stomach sank.

_Of course you are, _I thought while mentally banging my head on the table before me.

As I panicked, the man taunted, "Oh Harry? Come out, come out where ever you are!"

_He knows. And now he's going to kill me and only Merlin knows who else. This is bad. Very very bad. Well, at least this proves something to Dumbledore...but that doesn't really help much now. This is bad bad BAD!_

"Harry is dead!" Sirius shouted as he stood up as well.

_No! Sirius, sit down! Please! He'll kill you! He'll kill us all! Everyone in this room will die and it's all because he came here for me. Sirius will die, Remus will die, Hermione will die, Snape, Lance, Alvis, Gunnar..._

"Oh, don't give me that, Black. I know full well he's alive and well. And you know that more than I do, don't you?"

Sirius turned white.

The man sighed. "Harry, if you don't show yourself, I'm afraid I'll just have to kill everyone in this room."

"We won't let you do that!" McGongall shouted as she, along with the other professors and Hermione, stood up, wands drawn.

The man smiled and snapped his fingers. All around him, cloaked figures appeared. The small black cloaked army filled up the doorway.

_How? How did they get in? Did the wards drop? Did they apparate? That shouldn't be possible! Then again, absolutely none of this should be possible. Oh Merlin, what if they got Betsy? Is everyone in the orphanage even alive? _

"Harry Potter, if you don't show yourself," the man grinned, "I will be forced to start a battle here and now."

_Either way, I'm toast. At least if I admit myself, everyone might not die. Plus, it's not like there's any point in keeping it a secret anymore if he already knows. But he'll probably kill them all anyways..._

With a shuddered breath, I raised myself from my seat and glared over at the man.

"What are you doing?" Lance whispered frantically, but I ignored him.

The man smiled. "Ah, there you are. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Leave them alone," I said through gritted teeth.

He smirked. "Harry, Harry, Harry, always the hero, aren't you?" He stepped forward, away from the cloaked forms behind him. People shivered as he passed them and made his way towards me.

"You said you wouldn't start a battle," I pushed.

"Now, now, I never said that. I just said that I would if you didn't show yourself." He gave a sigh. "You have so much to learn, little Harry."

I glowered. "Like you'll let me live long enough."

He cackled, cold and rough. "Why would I kill you?"

I glared. "Why wouldn't you?"

He shrugged. "Actually, I guess I do have...some reasons to kill you," he considered, "but you're more useful to me alive than dead...for now, that is."

I cringed. Something in his tone told me that my torture was just about to begin.

He clapped his hands together. "Now then, it's time to go."

"You're not taking him with you!" Sirius shouted.

"No, Sirius!" I shouted. "He'll kill you!"

"No I wouldn't," he protested.

I scoffed, "Yeah right."

The man frowned. "Hey, I'm being serious."

I stared at the man blankly.

_Okay, this is getting really weird. Why isn't he trying to kill anyone? And does he seem almost...sane? Okay, maybe not sane, but not necessarily insane. Actually, he seems rather happy. Well, okay, I would be two if I had basically caught my arch foe, but...it's not that 'I'm insane and evil, gonna conquer the world' kind of happy...just your basic 'I know something you don't know' kind of happy...oops, mind rant._

"So," he looked over at me, "ready to go?"

"NO!"

The man turned to Sirius, smirking all the while. "Oh, calm down, I'll return him later. How about tomorrow morning?"

"Alive or dead?" Sirius snarled.

The man laughed. "Oh, very much alive and in perfect condition. I'll return him just as he is here...only he'll be more informed of things."

"You may not take him, Tom!" Dumbledore shouted.

Tom glared. "How dare you call me by my first name, you foolish old man? You do not have the right to call me as such! And I will take him or you will have a battle on your hands! Tell me, one student or dozens? And might I add that I will not harm the boy, like I said. I only wish to... talk."

"No, you may not..."

"I'm going, Headmaster." All eyes moved to me. "I don't want a battle. Besides, he might actually be telling the truth."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Harry, you can't be serious?"

I grinned. "No, you're Sirius."

"Harry! this is no time for jokes!" Remus shouted.

"Just trying to lighten the mood..."

"I thought it was funny," Tom added.

"Harry, you can't possibly believe that he'll actually let you come back here alive and completely unscathed!" Sirius yelled as he made his way towards us.

I grunted. "Of course not. Doesn't mean I'm going to stay here. Either way, we'll battle each other. This way, at least no on here will die today." _Isn't it just swell being the hero all the time? I hate my life. Stupid chivalry. _

Before anyone else could object, Tom spoke. "Severus," he addressed, "you will come with us. You can...ensure Harry's safety, if you wish."

Snape stood up and walked over to us. His robes lacked their usual sinisterness. They were replaced with nervousness and fear.

Tom gave a curt nod. "Good. Now then," he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a black bracelet, "this will portkey us to my mansion...well, not _my_ mansion..._a_ mansion..." He gestured us forward.

Snape and I exchanged worried glances before touching the leather band. I felt a pull on my naval and the hall disappeared before me.

---

_**-hides in fear- Pleeeeeease don't kill me...I wish for nice reviews...or at least somethings....please no killy the author...she had a bad day at work and her brain already going to mush...**_

_**Also...my friends always tell me that my version of Tom is like a male version of me...not sure how true it is...I guess I am a tad evil...okay, more than a tad...and I am sarcastic...and a little harsh.....ho hum...  
**_

_**Chapter 13: Okay, starts off with what happens once our boys leave (chaoooos) and then we find out what our lovely Tom is REALLY up to...**_

_**Me likey reviews! They make life more fun! ^_~ **_

_**+++BUDDYBLACK+++**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**Author's Note: I am sooooooo sorry it took so long to update...between my job and everything else, life has been hectic. Note this: NEVER work for the government. If you do, well, you know what I'm talking about. Anywho, this chapter is the answer to many questions...it's a lot of explaining and probably kinda boring, but...necessary...  
**_

_**Pledodge: I am soooooooooooo sorry I did not update sooner! Seriously, after re-reading your review so I could reply, I almost cried myself! I felt so bad....And, totally adoure dementores AND thestrals, so...they will certainly appear...but not very soon...did you know, I totally had canalope today for lunch? ^_ (and about that pervy part...I'm sorry, but nothing like that happens...unless you squint and look between the lines...then a LOT happens...but that's more in later chapters...:D )**_

_**Graven Lament and Lucillia: This chapter and the next should...well, begin to answer your questions ^_~**_

_**Brookslocklear: -gives a thumbs up- ...maybe....**_

_**nljfs: Really? I was thinking the story was going....too slow...oh well, it gets much slower in a while...probably too slow....**_

_**libsrevenge: ...then call me 'Evil'! (soooo sorry....)**_

_**misto713: Oh noooes! -ducks away from readers who are poised with axes and clubs- Don't worry, Dumbleedoo gets his earnings ^_^**_

_**B2J: Really? I don't like fish either...chips are good though, so I guess it's okay (though the sun beat you to it...my hands were burned for two weeks and are just now healing...part of the reason this took so long to update...) But, anywho, thank you so much! I hope I can actually pull it off until the end -sweatdrop-**_

_**David305: I am deeply sorry, but I have yet to get a beta (though I've actually been meaning to for a while). Problem is, when I edit myself, I usually end up adding in a bunch of stuff, so it actually helps for me to do it myself, but...it would probably be good to have someone look over it and go, "um, yeah, were you high when you wrote this?" XD Anywho, I have yet to have time to get a beta, but I tried very hard to catch any mistakes I had (though I ended up adding in a few chapters that I only skimmed through to make sure they were correct, so...who knows?) But thank you very much for all the help and I will certainly look into getting a beta...as soon as I find the time (besides the time I use actually writing the fics...).**_

_**evyominique: Us evil folk...-sigh- we have it all, right? ^_~**_

_**kehlencrow: You know, I thought it was obvious too until a few of my friends read it (they read it before I post so they can tell me, quite bluntly, if it sucks or not) and they were VERY surprised...I mean, really really surprised. One of them shouted out "WHAT?!" in the middle of Physics...the other had the same reaction during their English class...._**_

_**Doro . neko: YES! I adoure Tom! He is definitely staying! XD and that's probably my fav. line in the whole story...every time I think of it, I giggle, then I feel silly for giggling at my own joke...**_

_**ZOMG! Thank you ALL SOOOO much for the reviews! I was so happy to get them all! I really REALLY hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

_"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people."_

_- Virginia Woolfe  
_

Chapter 13: Some Things Are Probably Best Left Unknown

_**(Okay, this chapter has A LOT of explaining, but it's necessary. Tom talks a lot…but he's just…well, you'll find out. Hey, anyone else think Tom talks like I do? Even more than Harry does? I dunno, I kinda thought so…that should bother me, shouldn't it?)**_

---Sirius's POV---

I stared at the spot my godson had just vanished from. I couldn't believe it. He was gone. He had just returned to us and in a few weeks, had disappeared again.

_Why did he do that? Why! He didn't have to go with that man, he could have stayed! We could have defended the students…but Harry would never let that happen. No, he would never let a battle happen if he could stop it. And he did. But now he's gone…_

I slammed my fists down on the table and knocked over anything and everything in front of me. Glasses shattered on the floor and silverware clanged on the marble.

_How dare Voldemort steal him from us again? Hasn't Harry been through enough? And how did he know? How did he know Harry was here? Merlin, what do we do now? Call the Ministry? Get the Order together? Should I send a letter to Betsy? Oh Merlin, how can we save him? Is there any hope?_

I felt a hand touch my arm. "Siri…" Remus tried as he gripped my shoulder almost painfully. I ignored this and swiveled around, facing a man I now held more contempt for than ever before; more than even when James and Lily died...

"Dumbledore!" I yelled. "He _told_ you! _Warned_ you! We all did! But you never listened!" I shook with unbridled rage as he stared back, dumbstruck. "And now Harry's gone! Again! He's gone…" I slumped down into my chair and placed my head in my hands, shivering uncontrollably. "We couldn't save him…we failed him again."

"Dumbledore," Remus said in his always-calm tone, though there was a bite to it that made the old man shudder, "seeing as, if only you had listened to us, this probably never would have happened, I feel the need to ask. What exactly do you plan on doing now? Surrender Harry to Voldemort and hope that, by some small chance, he either gets out alive or somehow ends up defeating him? Is that what you hope will happen?" The werewolf's eyes narrowed in on the man everyone else's attentions were upon.

Despite being the focus of everyone's gazes, Dumbledore said nothing as he sat back down at the table, his face pale and grim.

I growled. I stood back up and glared at the old man. "Damn you!" I thrashed out. "If you had listened to us, then we could have gotten the Order together and done something! We could have put stronger wards around the school! We could have done something!"

The man sighed. "There was no proof…"

"That's rubbish and you know it!" Remus shouted, shocking our audience with his sudden furosity. "What about the murders? Or the stolen artifacts? Harry coming back should have been an obvious pointer that something was going to happen!" he snarled, throwing his hands in the air with obvious exasperation.

"And now, Harry's going to…" I couldn't say it. Not again. Not after the weeks I had spent reveling in the fact that my godson was alive. I just couldn't admit that we had lost him again.

"He said that he'd return Harry safely…" Dumbledore tried in an obvious attempt at clearing his name from the table.

"And you believe that? What proof do you have for that, huh?" I mocked, fists clenched with nails biting into my skin as the knuckles turned white.

Dumbledore glared back, causing me to smirk, despite the circumstances. "That is all we can hope for."

"Albus," Minerva said shakily, interrupting our quarrel, "was that really…could that really have been Harry Potter?" Her face was pale and her expression a mix of stunned and regretful.

"Yes," I confirmed, feeling the dread enter my stomach once more.

"But…how?" the woman asked, glancing uncertainly between the Headmaster and myself.

I shook my head. "We don't know…and _now_ we probably never will."

Minerva's eyes filled with tears, as did Hagrid's at the end of the table before he promptly burst into tears. His howls filled the Hall, echoing everyone's emotions. Neville, teary eyed as well, patted him on the back awkwardly in a failed attempt at comfort. Hermione, who was still seated at the end of the table, was frozen in shock.

Remus and I sat back down. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing did. Harry was gone. And soon, we'd be at war again. Nothing would change that.

_All these children …how many will survive? How many of them will have their families torn apart? What will happen now? Does it even matter? _

Unable to take any more of the silence, I left the practically untouched feast before us, excluding the silverware scattered on the floor, and stormed out of the hall. I ignored the stares and avoided even the merest glance at the Slytherin table where I could feel eyes piercing my being. I focused on he floor until I reached the door and burst out of the Hall.

---

"Sirius."

I turned around. Remus stood in the doorway and behind him were others. All their faces were grim. _Gee, I wonder why?_

"Siri," Remus said, stepping up to me and gently placing a hand on my shoulder, "we need to talk. We need to talk about what happens now."

I shrugged and turned back to the wall I had been starring so intently at. There was a long crack in it and an abandoned web in the corner. Dust and dirt littered the floor it touched.

"Please, Sirius," he begged, "we want to save Harry."

I circled around once more and saw Hermione, tears flooding her face, having long forgone the shocked expression, as she stood feet away from me. And yet, despite drowning in tears and having practically lost one of her dearest friends once more, her face was scrunched up in thought as she, as always, contemplated what was going to happen. Clearly, her hope had not yet been extinguished.

"Is there any hope?" I asked flatly. "Voldemort's probably already done him in." I shivered, my own cold voice frightening me. "There's nothing we can do."

"Sirius, while you may be right," Minerva said, stunned, yet unabashed by my tone, "there still might be a chance that they've taken him captive to…"

"Torture him?" I asked in horror, all emotion flooding my insides and making them churn.

_If they haven't killed him…then…they'd be torturing him. Oh Merlin, I can't let them do that! They cannot torture my godson! I won't let them!_

Purpose renewed, I looked at the the rest of the people filling into the room. Behind Remus, Hermione, and Minerva stood Neville and Hagrid. All of them had calmed down considerably and had an air of determination around them. I stood.

"You're right," I said, determination spreading fire through my veins. "We have to save him…even if we're too late…either way, we will bring him back." The rest nodded, faces matching mine in equal fortitude.

_Please wait for us, Harry. Please don't leave us again…_

---Harry's POV---

I hate portkeys.

We plummeted to the ground and I landed, of course, right on my oh-so-famous arse. I stood up, brushed myself off, and took a nice look around. The place was a palace fit for a king. The ceilings were high and gallant, floors carved from the finest marble, and everything shined with perfection and wealth. It looked as if an army could reside just in the Entrance Hall with room to spare.

_How'd an eleven-year-old get something like that? Wait a minute, why the bloody hell isn't he eleven? That's not fair! Okay, that's probably not what I should be thinking about right now, but…well, it keeps my mind off of the fact that I'm about to die. _

"This is Malfoy Manor," I heard Snape say incredulously, trying to mask his confusion like any good Slytherin.

The Dark Lord rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, I've been staying here as I have nowhere to live yet," Tom drawled.

"Naturally," I muttered.

He ushered us into one of the sitting rooms, lush with expensive antiques and furniture that didn't look nearly as comfy as they were probably worth. Even the floor had the distinct impression that it was never to be touched.

"Sit down, make yourself at home, and all that," Tom uttered before leaving us to the room's mercy. Sanpe and I took a seat on the couch rather hesitantly.

I glanced over at the man, who was looking at the portrait in front of us. "….So…what do you think he's planning?" I asked casually.

Snape shrugged slightly. "I have no idea. I can not imagine it being anything pleasant."

I gave a small nod. _No surprise there._ "Sorry you've been dragged into this," I muttered, rather sheepishly.

He gave a grunt. "You have done nothing that needs apologizing. I am sure I would have been put in a similar situation eventually."

I nodded, though reluctantly. The only thing that would qualm my dread though would be knowing our chances of survival.

Tom reentered the room with a tray that held a kettle, sugar, cream, and three tea cups. He placed it on the table with a clang and took a seat in the leather chair across from us. He reached out and took one of the cups, poured in the steaming liquid, added in a good amount of cream and three spoonfuls of sugar. Finally, he glanced up and Snape and I, noticing our lack of movement.

"So…how are you?" he asked pleasantly before taking a sip of his tea.

"W-what?" I blinked a few times before sputtering out, "You're about to kill me and you ask how we are?" I couldn't tell f this were all a joke or if he were actually being serious. Perhaps I was just in a very bad episode of the Twilight Zone.

Tom chuckled, causing both Snape and myself to sit more upright. "Come now, Harry, don't you remember what I said just moments ago? I have no intention of killing you any time soon." He began to pour us some tea as well.

"Oh yeah, that's comforting coming from the person who murdered my parents!"

Tom frowned as he added quite a bit or cream and sugar to one of the cups. "Harry, we have much to discuss." He handed the cup to Snape who, not knowing what else to do, took it from him. He frowned down at the cup in distaste, clearly not used to how light the liquid was.

I scoffed. "Why bother?" I said, refusing the cup being handed to me.

"Harry, do you really have a death wish?" Snape asked as he took a sip of his own tea, then grimaced and politely sat it back down.

"No, I'm just not naïve enough to actually believe that you're going to let me leave here alive."

He chuckled again.

_Okay, nothing's more annoying than having your soon to be murder or laughing at you. Seriously, what's so funny? The fact that I'm about to die and he's serving tea? _

"I am not going to kill you," he said again, though with more seriousness than befre, though that was hardly reassuring.

_Yeah, yeah, we'll see about that._ "Okay, sure. So, why am I here then? Just to drink tea?"

"You won't accept the tea."

"You probably poisoned it."

"He didn't." I looked over at the Potion's Master who merely shrugged. "I checked."

I rolled my eyes before muttering, "Of course you did."

Tom sighed. "I simply wished to talk to you," he said, returning to the subject.

"Simply?" I growled. "There's nothing _simple_ about bursting into Hogwarts and threatening to start a war if I didn't come with you." Tom tried to keep a straight face, but soon it was too much, and he burst out laughing.

_He's laughing…again…you know, a Dark Lord shouldn't laugh this much. There should seriously be a law against it. Then again, he'd probably just break that law. Are there any Dark Lord laws that have to be followed? You know, to make things fair for all the other aspiring rulers of the world. Oh yeah, that would be just peachy. _

"I had never planned on _actually_ starting a battle," Tom said with a smirk, composing himself from the outburst.

I blinked. "You…didn't?"

His smirk grew, causing me to twitch slightly in anger. "Of course not. I was lying. Oldest trick in the book."

I frowned, uncertain as to whether I should feel confused, relieved, or just plain dumb. "What would you have done if I hadn't agreed?"

"But you did."

_Right. Not the point_. "So…you wanted to talk about…?"

Tom placed his cup on the table and clapped his hands together, a grin plastering itself over his chin. "Right! Well, let's get to it, shall we? It all started a long time ago in a log cabin…"

"Are you serious?" I snapped at the smiling psycho.

"No, if I were, I'd be your godfather and we all have to admit that that would be pretty creepy."

_Can I just kill myself now? _"Please stop joking around," I begged.

Chuckling, he continued. "Okay, okay, all ridiculousness aside, While, no, it didn't start in a log cabin (I believe that would be President Lincoln from America's history, I believe), it did start in a rather homely place…"

"What 'started'?"

"The story. Now then, this place, an orphanage, was where a powerful wizard met a young, but equally powerful, boy. The man, seeing how powerful this boy was, wanted nothing more than for the boy to join him and use his power for his own benefits while making the boy entirely dependent on him. However, the boy was smarter than that and saw through the man's plan. The boy, in turn, decided that he'd make his own plans at conquering the wizarding world, the thing the wizard had always desired.

"He began searching for something that would allow him to survive long enough, regardless of what happened, be it death or not, so that he would be able to gain enough power to defeat the man. However, the man caught wind of this and used it to his advantage. He tricked the boy into doing something that, in the end, damaged the man as well."

I studied Tom for a moment. He no longer looked like the thing he had once been. He was human, for starters, but he was also smarter, or rather, his mind seemed clearer. He was , surprisingly, more sane than he was letting on and actually thought things through. He was not rash and filled with irrational things. My thoughts of how he had been, how he had been described to me many times before, were slowly melting away.

"So, I'm assuming you were the boy?" I asked, only half expecting an answer. His last name wasn't Riddle for nothing.

Tom swallowed thickly. "Yes," he replied.

"And the wizard?" Snape asked, though his expression told me that he already had a good hunch.

"Albus Dumbledore," Tom hissed, the name poison to his innards.

"What did he do to you?" I asked, curious about the fact that Dumbledore, leader of the Light, could have been the cause of everything that had ever happened to him.

Surely Dumbledore didn't do anything too bad, right? I mean, what ever he did must have been for the good of the wizarding world, right? He would never try and take over…would he?

"Harry, have you ever heard of a Horcrux?" I shook my head. "I wouldn't have thought so. During my fifth year, I had been searching of a way to make myself more powerful. Dumbledore discovered this and told Slughorn, my Potion's teacher back then, to tell me of the Horcruxes.

The man refused. He knew what would happen to me if I tried to create one and, as one of his favorite students, would never want that to happen. I do not know how, Imperious Curse I would assume…but he somehow controlled my Professor into telling me about the Horcruxes. He, naturally, forgot to mention some rather small, but important details."

Dumbledore? Use an Unforgivable Curse? On a teacher? That's not possible…not plausible…

"A Horcrux," Tom began to explain, "is an object in which a portion of a witch or wizard's soul is contained. It the person were to die, they would still have a portion of their soul on this earth and would be able to revive themselves.

"It is a complicating process to explain, so I'll make this short and simple. Your soul is something precious, something that is meant to be kept together." He sighed. "I did not realize that. When I created my Horcrux, I never realized what I had done nor what I was doing. By my third or fourth, I had completely lost it. With my soul as spilt and fragmented as it was, I had become, in all honesty, completely insane." He gave me a chilling smile.

"So, you're admitting that you're crazy? Well, that's a start," I muttered. He laughed.

"Oh no, I'm quite sane now…well, mostly sane." He chuckled a bit more before explaining further. "You see, when a Horcrux is destroyed, the soul is not. What it will do is reattach itself to the original being, if that person is still alive.

"When you destroyed my diary in your second year, my soul was combined ever so slightly. I had not realized the change it had on me, however. Actually, I did not realize anything until I was born an infant, aware of everything around me, however utterly useless." He sighed. "You don't realize how utterly frustrating it is being an infant with no control of magic and being downright insane. Quite troublesome, really."

I frowned slightly, though my eyes widened. "Wait, you were…well, _you_ since you were born?" _Geez, and I thought I had had it bad._

"Yes. When did you discover…yourself?"

"When I was four."

Tom tapped his chin. "Hm. Interesting. How?"

"I was hit in the head with a kickball."

"Ah. How epic," he added sarcastically, but ultimately waved it aside. "Anyways, while being in the body of a useless infant, I thought through things. Many things. I realized how much clearer and less chaotic things were when you had destroyed my Horcrux. It made me rather curious. It was years before I was able to leave my home and make an aging potion…"

"Aging potion?" I looked to Snape with a glare. "No one ever mentioned one of those."

"It's considered Dark Magic," he replied dryly. "I hardly thought that you, the mutt, or the werewolf would agree to it."

I gave a grunt and slouched into my seat, pouting. Tom took that as good a time as any to continue.

"Yes, well, at any rate, I decided to see what would happen if I were to destroy another on of my Horcruxes. I sought out the Hufflepuf Cup in the Lestrange vault and destroyed it. That's when I discovered the truth. My mind became clearer, less insane, you get the idea.

"I later found out that Dumbledore had hidden my other Horcruxes in a vault as a desperate attempt at keeping me insane and illogical, forcing me to thus continue my streak as the crazy bad guy. However, what he didn't know was that I have quite a few ties with the goblins and have promised them many things. They gladly let me into the vault, free of charge," he said with a wink.

_That was…discomforting._ "So now you're sane?"

"For the most part. I only have one Horcrux left, and I've already promised not to destroy it."

"Why?" I asked, brows stitched in confusion. If it would allow him complete sanity, why wouldn't he?

"Well, for one thing, the portion of my soul missing is very small since, at the time it was made, I had very little soul left. Secondly, I rather need this little Horcrux more than I need that soul."

I frowned. "What do you mean? What is the Horcrux?"

He smiled. I shivered. "Why, Harry, that Horcrux is you."

I froze.

Wait, what did he just say? I'm his Horcrux? Me? But how? Why? When? And why does he need me? I think that last one scares me the most.

"Harry," Tom asked, almost gently (or as gently as a Dark Lord could), "will you help me destroy Dumbledore?"

---

**_Ah, how the plot thickens...Will he do it? Is Tom good? Is Dumbles bad? Who knows? (well, besides myself, of course...)_**

**_Also...I totally drink my tea with tons of cream and three spoonfuls of sugar...and I, aparently, tap my chin a lot...(also, while I was trying to think of a time I actually did such a thing, I found myself...tapping my chin...and the case rests).  
_**

**_Okay, well...I'm not exactly chipper today (some not-so-swell stuff has been happening...this would be my distraction from it all), so reviews would be much appreciated! Better the reviews, more likely I am to update! I'm almost done with CH.14...._**

**_Chapter 14: One Too Many Hugs - Okay, we make a few more discoveries, one of my fav. characters makes an aperence, and...tea is spilt. _**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! I live off of reviews......_**

**_+++BUDDYBLACK+++_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, themes, etc. from Harry Potter...**_

_**The Freakishly Long Author's Note (because everyone needs a good rant, right? I love rants...love reading them too...): I am (as usual) so so soooo sorry it took me this long to update...school has been pretty tough, then I got H1N1 (no freakin' joke...) still have the after effects of it, and am currently in the middle of applying to collages...anyone have connections at a good art collage, preferably Columbia College Chicago?....worth a shot. ^_^; Real life sucks...*goes and cries in a corner***_

_**Okay, okay, I'm not really that depressed, I swear, but everything seems to be sort of...bunching together...first my computer wouldn't get an Internet connection (another reason I haven't updated in a while), then my camera stopped working, then my scanner died, blah blah blah...on and on in a circular motion...Yeah, eventually I just said, "To hell with it!" No point fretting over what can't be done...so, to cheer myself, I made time to type this lovely chapter...and hopefully will be able to spit out the next one soon...**_

_**...then again, NaNoWriMo is starting up, which means I'll be doing that all next month (all writers, join in! It's awesome! DO IT!)**_

_**Okay, I'll stop with the moping and complaining and pity-partying and go to...review reply! (I wanted to reply to more, but didn't have the time...sorry! ;_; I still love you all!).**_

_**Quickstone: *gets very weepy* that's...so....nice! ;_; Thank you soo much! I know exactly what you're talking about and always end up pondering, "Oh God, I'm not...THAT bad, am I?" and the fact that you think I'm not means so much to me! *throws you a bunch of cookies* Thank you so much! I hope I do not disappoint you!**_

_**moss and stone: I'm glad you're liking it! I really do try and make it...different from others, but sometimes it just seems like it'll end up like all the rest...*sighs in frustration* but I shall try and keep it as interesting and different as possible!...without making it ridiculous, of course. **_

_**MartinDeShade: Thank you! I was hoping I wasn't twisting things too much, so your review really lifted my spirits! The best non-evil Voldemort story? *cries a little* too kind, ye are, too kind! *throws more cookies***_

_**BSoloman: You shall see...all will become clear in time! *does a weird mystic thing with hands* The answer to your last question, yes, you can write a good fic without Voldy...but, golly, what's the point? ;)**_

_**RRW: Thank you, as always! I love Harry's new friends and end up doodling sketches of the four of them during lectures...while taking notes on the side, of course! ^_^; Anywho, the murderer(s) will be revealed...in time. P.S. I keep meaning to read some of your stories...hopefully I'll have time in the near future...^_^**_

_**JWOHPfan: Actually, it always depends for me...I don't think I hate Dumbles and yet can't particularly say I agree with him either...like a love/hate relationship, ya know? Either he has to be evil or entirely goofy (kinda like Luna...smart, but a little too out there...). Hate that whole "I will control your life" thing...blek. And on that note, the plans for revenge begin...probably...**_

_**Phantom Feline: Ugh! For some odd reason, every time I flipped it on, it would turn back on again, so I just gave up...but now I believe it is enabled, so anonymous people, please review! Woah, last line? *doesn't remember...and goes back to see what it was* ...Ah! Yes! The destroying Dumbles part! Good 'ole Tommy couldn't be more blunt, hn? How I do love that dear Dark Lord...(er, not just the one in my fic...in general...Voldy rock all the way!)**_

_**Senyor Fier Mensheir: *gives a wink* I believe it would be okay to go ahead and say, "Hell yes" to that...I mean, who can say no to Tom? ^_~**_

_**Mihra-Attar: Okay, your review just about made me cry...again. Usually it's always "Update soon!" which, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love hearing because it means you actually really want to keep reading, but to have someone tell you to enjoy it and take your time...*sniffs and dabs at eyes a little* THAT means a lot. Thank you sooo much! *gives you a whole barrel of cookies* Though, admittedly, two months is probably a bit too much...oopsie...**_

_**Mikee: Find time I did, my friend...it just took a while. I'm glad you're enjoying it! Also, here are your Malfoys...well...one of them (don't worry, considering that I absolutely love the Malfoys, they will appear, all three of them). I pondered what to do with that extra horcrux/Harry...but ended up figuring that it would be too corny and easy if it were to just die with him, and yet...it was such a small amount that it didn't even seem to matter much...but I am still a bit troubled by it, so I might end up dealing with that later on...hn...**_

_**ashleytet: XD I'm not really sure what you're talking about (destroy Dumbles, I'm assuming), but as I am a fan of destruction nonetheless, I say right on!**_

_**Well, that's it....sorry if this chapter isn't all that swell....I haven't had time to read back through it (if I had to make time to do that too than I would never get it posted...) And on that note, let the chaos begin...**_

_Eschew Obfuscation_

"_We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive."_

_- Albert Einstein_

Chapter 14: Too Many Hugs

---Sirius's POV---

"Padfoot!"

We all turned around and saw them. Lance, Gunnar, and Alvis entered the DADA room, their faces confused and worried. I had never seen them so scared in all my time there, since they were usually always hyper and mischievous, and probably would have done anything to erase the faces from my memories now.

"What's going on? Where's Charles? Who's Harry? Who was that man that took Charles?" the green haired boy recited a mile a minute.

"Gunnar, calm down," Alvis said as he put a hand on his twin's shoulder. Lance stayed unnaturally silent.

I shook my head sadly. "I'm sorry, you guys, I can't explain that right now…"

"But we need to know what happened! What's happening to Charles? Why did he have to leave?" Gunnar stomped his foot with frustration.

I felt the dread return.

"Boys," Minerva began with her 'you had better or else' tone, "this is not the time. We will tell you as soon as he returns, so please go to your common room and..."

I sighed. "No, Minerva, don't."

She looked over at me with disbelief etched into her scowling face. "You can't possibly mean to tell them? They're only children!" she shouted while gesturing at the trio, as if it proved her point.

"B-but…they're Harry's friends," Neville stuttered. "He wouldn't want you to lie to them."

"Who's Harry?" Gunnar asked again.

"Do you mean Harry Potter?"

All eyes turned on Alvis.

"Yes," I said finally, becoming more depressed by the minute, "that's exactly who we're talking about. Your friend is Harry James Potter."

The three Slytherins were silent.

---Harry's POV---

The room went silent. I gaped at the man who, I now confirmed, really was entirely insane.

"How dare you ask me that?" I yelled slapping away the teacup still being offered to me. "You _killed_ my _parents_ and made my life a living hell!"

"Please understand," he implored while staring sadly at the spilled liquids on the floor. He glanced up and looked me square in the eyes. , "I was not in my right mind. I never had an intention to go about killing muggleborns. However, when I slowly started to loose my mind, I began to think irrationally. If I had been in my right mind, I never would have murdered James or Lily Potter. James Potter was a very powerful pureblood and Lily Evans was one of the smartest witches of her age, muggleborn on not."

I gawked. Had Voldemort, Overlord of Darkness, just complimented my parents? Parents, might I add, he killed? He didn't even look pained at admitting it.

I sat back and observed the man before me. "What were your original intentions?" I asked, now genuinely curious.

It was Snape who answered me. "He had originally wanted a world without prejudice. A world where, for example, Lupin could live without being judged due of his lycanthropy."

Tom nodded. "I had also wanted a world completely separate from that of the human world. However, I soon realized that that would have been impossible since the pureblood lines are slowly dying out." He let out a sigh. "All that we would truly gt from that would be marriages within families, which would result in squibs."

_So the man does see the problems in his previous plan. That's a relief. I don't think I would have wanted to live in a land of incest. Ew…And the whole 'no prejudice' thing sounds nice…and Remus would have freedom. So would the other creatures…_

"So that's why you've gotten on the good side of the goblins," I confirmed.

Tom grinned. "And the trolls, vampires, werewolves, centaurs, veelas, dwarves, giants, halflings, and dementors." He pondered for a moment before adding, "I'm also currently working on necromancers and mermaids...just in case."

_Oh Merlin, if I were Dumbledore, I'd call myself screwed._ "Well, that's_…" great? Terrible? Just lovely? _"So now all you're after is…" I searched for a fitting word, "equality?"

Tom grinned. "Precisely."

_Well, that's not too bad, right?_ "So why is Dumbledore in the way?"

Tom clenched his teeth together as he bit out, "All that old man wants is control and the only way he thinks the creatures can be controlled is by making them outcasts."

I shook my head. "But…he let Remus…"

"Oh, he might seem like an all-round goody-two-shoes," Tom sneered, "but I assure you, the only reason he even let Lupin come to that school in the first place was to prove that. Lupin is the exception that makes him look good. He wanted respect from a werewolf to use him as a bartering tool against others, as a pawn to convince others to follow him."

"But…why doesn't Dumbledore want creatures?" I asked, though dreading the answer.

Tom coursed a hand through his brown locks. "For all the reasons other stupid, naïve wizards and witches don't. Because they're _different_."

_Ah. So that's the core of it all, isn't it? Voldemort is different from others. So much so, that some would probably think of him as abnormal. It's no wonder that he would stand up to others that have the same issues as himself. _

_Still..._"Okay…but Dumbledore…"

"Is a good actor."

"How do I know _you're_ not?" I challenged.

Tom looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping an index finger to his chin. "Well," he began at last, "why not?"

My eyes rolled. "Oh, I don't know, because you're a murderer?" I snapped.

"I told you, I wasn't in my right mind…" he pressed, hands in the air in mock surrender.

"Then what about Ms. Figg! Or Colin!"

He stopped waving his arm and gave me a rather dumbfounded look, his eyebrows crossing together and mouth slumping to a frown. "Harry, what on earth are you talking about?"

I growled and shot up from my seat. "How dare you forget them? You and your deatheaters killed them only days ago!" Snape, who I had forgotten was even there, grabbed my arm in warning.

Tom, however, continued to stare at me with blank confusion. "Harry, I have not ordered my deatheaters to kill anyone. There are very few of them that even know I am alive."

"He's right."

I jumped, wand in hand, and swerved around to where the voice had come from. Standing in the doorway was a man clad in black slacks and wearing a white, clean pressed button-up shirt. In his right hand he held a cane with a menacing silver snake head on the grip.

"It's nice to see you, Severus," the man drawled.

"Likewise, Lucius..." he said uncertainly, causing the blonde to smirk.

I directed my attention away from the Malfoy and returned my mind to the current situation. "If you didn't kill them," I continued, "than who did?"

Lucius shrugged, his blonde hair shifting on his shoulders. "Who knows? But I assure you, none of us had a hand in their deaths." He paused for a moment before adding, "Actually, the deatheaters who are still running about have killed no one for years."

I frowned. "But…then who's been killing people all these years? And why, if not for your revenge?" I asked, confused to say the least.

Tom cocked his head to the side. "I do not know. My most loyal of followers know I have returned, understand what my plans are, and are very much willing to follow me. Others, some that had joined me later in my…escapade, when I no longer held any sanity, have been put in Azkaban." He shrugged good-naturedly. "I'm not responsible."

I took a pause to take it all in. I went back through the conversation we had been having and there was still one thing that bugged me.

"Why would Dumbledore want control over the wizarding world?" I queried.

"The glory." I turned, surprised, to Snape. "I had mentioned before that he had been acting rather…haughty. It would not surprise me if he simply wanted to take over the wizarding world, control it, and rein in the fame of it all."

So Dumbledore was an egomaniac? Well, geez, he can have my life if he wants fame so much. If he really is a nutty as they're saying, than I'd be willing to bet that my existence is just one big annoyance. I'm practically stealing away all his fame…

"Voldemort," I asked as an idea hit me, "did you try anything at my Quidditch match this morning?"

He quirked a brow and replied, "You had a Quidditch match this morning?"

_Well, that answers that. _"Snape, where was Dumbledore during the match?"

Snape frowned. "I don't' know. I don't believe he ever actually came. Actually, now that I think about it, he never even came to see if you were okay…"

"Okay? Why wouldn't he be okay?" Tom asked, actually seeming to be genuinely worried.

"Potter," Snape began as he realized, "you can't possibly be thinking that he would…"

"He could have," I said with a shrug. "Than again, this Dark Lord here could be filling me with a load of lies right now and I probably wouldn't even know the difference."

"How about if I take some Veritaserum?" Tom suggested. "You can ask me whatever you want, though nothing personal, please."

I gave him a disbelieving look. "You'd actually do that?"

"Naturally. Severus," he turned to the Potions Master, "would you happen to have any on you?"

Snape nodded and pulled out a vile with a clear liquid sloshing inside. Tom took it from him, put three or four drops in his cup, and gulped it down without hesitance. He ignored the stunned looks he was receiving from his minion and the boy as he handed the vile back.

That being done, he clapped his hands together and gave them a small smile. "Now then, what would you like to ask me?"

"Is everything you have told me so far the truth?" I asked, trying to waste as little time as possible.

"Yes," he said, without a beat. "Excluding, of course, any times in which I was blatantly sarcastic in which I was obviously lying, but you knew that already so I highly doubt that would count." Tom's face was slack now as he drolled on in a dull voice.

"You were truly...out of your mind?"

"Quite," he answered.

"And Dumbledore was actually behind it all?"

"Yes."

_Well, that answered that. _"What do you want me to do?"

Tom grinned a bit. "Well, I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone because I know that you would _never_ dare to do_ that_…so, for now, simply wait." He frowned. "What do you think Dumbledore might have done?" he asked, though out of concern or curiosity, I wasn't sure as the potion was still in effect, though it was becoming apparent that it was already wearing off. How powerful was this man?

I shook my thoughts away."Oh, he just decided to propel me off my broom…a few hundred feet in the air."

Snape sighed. "Harry, you have no proof…"

"No, Severus," Tom interrupted, "Harry is probably right. That old man would hate for it to get around that their Chosen One is back in all his lively glory, sucking away his fame. Plus, Harry knew that I had most likely returned as well, which Dumbledore had told the people would never happen again. Revealing my comeback now would cause others to revolt against him. He would loose all control."

_Merlin, that makes sense! I mean, that turns Dumbledore into even more of an egomaniac than I would have ever dreamed, but it still makes sense…and Voldemort isn't dumb. For him to be saying that, under Veritaserum, he must believe it's true…_

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Now," Tom began, "we go and give little Dumbles a surprise."

"And that would be?" Snape asked dubiously.

"Why, your lives, of course."

---

"I can't believe he gave us a portkey that took us right in front of Honeydukes!" I whispered furiously as I looked around the deserted street. "And in the middle of the night!"

"If you would happen to notice, Potter, this is no longer Honeydukes."

I turned and, sure enough, there was a new sign on the building reading 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'.

"So _this _is where it is!" I beamed, remembering how Fred and George were trying to branch out from Diagon Ally and had opened a new store near Hogwarts.

"Why would he take us here?" Snape muttered. "Why not in front of the castle gates?"

I grinned. "I think I know why."

_So this must be why they chose this place. This way, they can keep an eye on the troublemakers that just so happen to find the entrance and make friends with them. Wait a minute, how did Voldemort know about this passage? Not sure if I want to think about that too much…oh, wait, Wormtail. That would make sense._

I walked towards the shop and gave a few knocks.

Snape rolled his eyes up at the night sky. "What do you think you're doing? It's nearly one in the morning. They're clearly not open. And what help would those blasted twins be?" Snape continued to bicker quietly to himself until the shop door opened and a red head popped out.

"Okay, what the hell is…Professor Snape?" Fred said, stunned out of his sleepy daze. He looked taller and perhaps even a little more mature with his more defined cheek bones and cleft chin.

"Did you just say Snape?" George said as his head popped out as well, expression identical to Fred's. He looked down at me. "And who are…" he stopped and blinked and rubbed his eyes as if he were seeing things. Well, who could blame him?

I shuffled my feet and avoided their piercing looks. Already they're minds were cranking away at the possibilities. "Sorry to bother you, but we need to use the…um…passage."

Their eyebrows shot up to their hairline, practically in sync. "How'd you know about that?" they asked in unison.

Debating whether or not to let the truth be known, I sighed. What was the point? Everyone would probably know by morning thanks to Tom's outing in the entire Hall. They'd just read it in the _Daily Prophet_ in the morning. Finally, I looked up and gave them a smirk.

"You told me about it, remember?"

They stood there, stunned for a moment before glancing at one another. It took about two seconds before identical grins smeared across their faces, the dimples in their cheeks throwing off the previous mature look. They gave Snape and I a bow.

"Welcome back…"

"…Harry Potter."

I smiled. They had caught on quicker than I had expected. Then again, these were the Weasley twins; they were smarter than they acted. "It's good to see you two again, though I'm sorry that I've yet to visit your shop."

"Ah, don't worry, Harry…"

"…We don't mind."

"Just come back…"

"…as soon as you can…"

"…and you had better explain…"

"…just what the bloody hell's going on!" Fred finished with a smirk before shoving Snape and I towards the secret passage.

"Have a wonderful night!" they called in unison as we slipped away into the darkness.

---

When we arrived back, Snape took off towards the dungeons, grumbling about bloody twins and insufferable brats. I smirked. Sometimes, he really could be grouchy. I, myself, took off towards the DADA room.

"This is hopeless!" I heard Sirius yell from behind the door. "We'll never find him!"

"But isn't there anyway to track a portkey?" Gunnar said…_wait, Gunnar?_

"No, you have to have the actual portkey," I heard Alvis say. Was Lance there too?

"He's right. There isn't any way to find out where he is…"

"Do you think he was telling the truth?" I heard Lance mutter.

"Who?" McGonagall asked.

"That man…You-Know-Who…he said he wouldn't hurt Char…er….Harry. Is there any way that he was telling the truth?"

The room went quiet.

"No," I heard Hagrid say. "Tha' man's a monster! There ain't no way he'd just take 'im and not do nothin' to 'im…Oh Harry…" I could here him begin to blubber.

Okay, I can't stand the crying.

I slipped into the room quietly, without the notice of its occupants, and gave Hagrid a pat on the back. "It's okay, Hagrid."

"No it ain't!" Hagrid cried. "He's got 'arry an'…an'…." He turned around to see whoever was attempting to comfort him and stopped. "Harry?" he mumbled.

I grinned. "See? I told you it was okay." Then, I was attacked. Hagrid engulfed me in a giant bear hug and lifted me off the ground.

"Oh Harry," he began bawling even louder, "yer back! An' yer alive!"

"N-not for long," I squeaked out, "…if you keep…squeezing me…"

"Hagrid, give him some air," Remus said from behind. Hagrid gently set me back down and I stood in front of them.

"Harry…is it really you?" Hermione asked as her eyes began to fill with tears.

I looked down, my shoes suddenly becoming very interesting. "Yeah," I mumbled. "Sorry I didn't tell you, but I was worried that–" I didn't get to finish my sentence as I was swallowed up in yet another hug, though this one was not nearly as life threatening.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione cried, "it's so good to see you again! I have to tell Ron…and Molly! Oh, and Fred and George and Ginny and…" the list went on.

"Calm down, Hermione," I heard Sirius say from behind. Hermione let go and, no sooner was I grabbed again by Sirius.

"Harry, how did you get back?" he muttered into my hair, utterly bewildered. "What did he do to you? Are you okay? What happened?"

"Uh…that's going to take a lot of explaining."

"Well, it's a Saturday," McGonagall said, sitting down at one of the tables. "It's not as if we have anything that needs doing tomorrow, so we have quite a bit of time."

"Yeah, I guess." I sat down at one of the desks that filled the room and began my long, disbelieving tale.

---

_**La la la okay that's all for now....I have no idea when I'll update next...I WILL update, just not sure when....reviews might inspire me to update sooner (they usually do) but then again November is the month of evil for my AP Literature class, so I'm just not sure...hopefully I'll update within a few weeks! ;_;**_

_**Chapter 15: Too Many People – (aren't these titles creative?) Yeah, all I have to say is....Weasley's....revelations occur (big surprise) and plans are formed....oh, and people pass out....and did I mention a certain character pops up that we haven't seen in a while? Yep. By the by, this chapter was HELL to write.....literally too many people....*sigh***_

_**Well, I will hopefully see you all soon! PLEASE REVIEW! It....inspires....**_

_**+++BUDDYBLACK+++**_


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